Food and Drink Center

Sweet Tea - the Beverage of Choice in the Deep South
By Mayoor Patel

As everyone in the Deep South of the United States knows, there is usually always a pitcher of sweet tea brewed and ready for company to drop by. The presumption in many restaurants is that when a guest asks for tea, he or she means sweetened tea. So popular is tea with sugar that many cafes and restaurants will have large quantities ready to serve and have less than half the same amount of a non-sweet blend on hand.

Far and away, the most popular tea to use is the common black and orange pekoe blend. Available in every supermarket, brewing a pitcher of tea each day is almost as automatic a task as brewing coffee in the morning. Guests are invariably offered a cup or glass of tea as they are seated. There are those that think the entire social framework of the Deep South would collapse if tea were to suddenly disappear from the face of the earth, and just about as many people who would agree.

Making sweet tea does not require any special equipment, although there is one fact of making a proper pitcher of sweetened tea that seems to elude some parts of the country. Sugar must be added to the tea while the brew is still warm. Attempting to add sugar to cold tea has been likened to attempting to breach a hole in a dam with the use of an elastic bandage. In short, it is futile. One may also observe that by adding the sugar while the tea is still warm also means you can use much less sugar than one would in that vain attempt to sweeten the cold tea.

An earmark of serving tea in Southern restaurants is that one may have free refills, with no limit. This is not true in other parts of the country, where you will be billed for each glass of tea you consume during your meal. Southerners tend to view tea as part of the hospitality that one receives in a restaurant. In fact, there are restaurants that will be happy to leave a pitcher of tea at your table, should you make the request.

Sweet tea is so much a part of the landscape of the Deep South that when its sons and daughters move away, they always have a direct connection to their roots, no matter where they are living. All it takes is a nice glass of freshly brewed tea, sweetened to perfection, to remind him or her of their rich heritage.

Mayoor Patel is the writer for the website http://www.iced-tea.tea-universe.com/ Please visit for information on all things concerned with Sweet Tea

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St Martin Cuisine
By Edmund Jarvis

Saint Martin is a tropical island in the northeast Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico. The 98 km? (38 square-mile) island is divided roughly in half between France and the Netherlands it is the smallest inhabited land mass in the world that is divided between two nations. The southern Dutch half is called Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles the northern French half is called Saint-Martin and is part of the French overseas r?gion and d?partement of Guadeloupe. The main towns are Marigot (French side) and Philipsburg (Dutch side).

The most popular types of cuisine in St. Martin are traditional French and spicy West Indian Cr?ole. Many of the restaurants, which range from inexpensive to tr?s cher, combine the best of both. Fresh seafood appears on virtually all menus, sometimes prepared in Cr?ole style with spices, sometimes in the classic French manner with herbs. Local rum drinks often precede a meal and fine French wines provide the perfect accompaniment.

Recipes of St. Martin
Callaloo Soup

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh kale
? pound callaloo, or fresh spinach
12 okra pods
? pound salt pork, cut into thin strips
? pound fresh lean pork, cubed
2 onions, thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 hot pepper, seeds removed, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
6 cups chicken stock

Method

Pull all stems from kale and callaloo. Discard stems and roughly chop the leaves. Wash leaves thoroughly. Roughly chop the kale. Place salt port in a large, heavy soup kettle and saut? over medium heat for 10 minutes, rendering fat.

Discard all, but 2 tablespoons of fat.

Add pork cubes and onions to pan. Saut? over medium heat until cubes are brown and onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add kale, callaloo, okra, black pepper and hot pepper. Add thyme and stock.

Cover and simmer 2 1/2 hours. Remove salt pork before serving. Makes 6-8 servings.

Crab Backs

Ingredients

12 live blue crabs
3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped chives
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Unseasoned dry bread crumbs

Method

Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add crabs. Boil for 15 minutes, until the shells turn bright red. Drain and cool.

Break open the claws and pick out the meat. Discard pieces of shell. Carefully open the crab backs, removing and reserving any meat and fat, but discarding gill and white intestine. Scrub empty shells thoroughly.

Preheat broiler. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, tomato and chives. Cook until softened and remove from heat.

Stir in flaked crabmeat, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and black pepper.

Refill crab backs with the crab mixture and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Place stuffed crabs on a baking sheet and brown under broiler. Serve hot.

Roasted &amp Stuffed Mussels

Ingredients

To steam the mussels:
48 fresh mussels, washed
1 cup dry white wine
1 ounce of butter
? cup of breadcrumbs

For Filling:
3 shallots
10 garlic cloves
12 basil leaves
? bunch chopped parsley
5 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon chopped dill
Juice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezed
2 tablespoon of alcohol
Salt &amp black pepper mignonette
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 pinch of dried fennel
? pound butter at room temperature

For Garnish:
1 tomato
Green leaves

Method

Steam the mussels: Scrape and washed the mussels several times and drain in colander. In a large pot, place the mussel, the wine, and the butter. Cover, and cook on high heat until the mussels are open. Strain in a colander and set aside to cool.

Making the filling: In a food processor, finely chop garlic and shallots. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth and creamy. Taste and rectify seasoning if necessary.

Leave the meat inside one shell, so you can remove the top ones. Reserve the juice to make a soup or even a sauce. Stuff the mussels with the butter mixture, making sure you completely cover the meat. Refrigerate.

Bake: Before serving, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake at 450? F for about 20 minutes.

Serve and garnish: Serve on large plates with few green leaves underneath and a tomato rose. Accommodate with your favorite dry white wine.

Chef’s Note: When selecting your mussels, never choose a mussel that is chipped, broken, or damaged in any way. Also, never choose a mussel that is open. The mussels should be tightly closed and stored in a cool area where they can breathe. When you purchase your mussels, make sure to immediately unwrap them at home so they can breathe, otherwise they may die before you cook with them. Soak your mussels in fresh water just before cooking for about 20 minutes. As the mussels breathe, they filter water and expel sand. After about 20 minutes, the mussels will have less salt and sand stored inside of their shells.

Edmund Jarvis writes on Cooking, Internet and Affiliate Marketing.

Learn more by visiting my blog http://caribbeanislandcuisine.blogspot.com/

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Summer Meal Ideas
By Sandy Prosdocimo

At the end of a lazy Summer day, when the family is relaxing and having fun the last place you want to be is in the kitchen preparing meals. So instead of ordering takeaway why not try one of these quick and healthy meal ideas. With so many fabulous fruit and vegetables in season in Summer it is so easy to prepare quick healthy meals the whole family will enjoy.

Fruit &amp Vegetables in Season in Summer

Beans, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Capsicum, Cauliflower, Celery, Radish, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Strawberries, Fig, Cherries, Grapes, Lychees, Mushroom, Mango, Melons, Passionfruit, Nectarines, Pineapple, Spinach, Avocado, Coos Lettuce, Alfalfa Sprouts, Asparagus, Pear, Plum, Apricots, Peas, Rhubarb, Cucumber, Shallot, Sweet Corn, Squash, Zucchini.

Quick &amp Easy Summer Meals for the whole Family

* Chicken Wraps

* Tacos

* Chicken Satays with salad

* Fish Burgers

* Selection of ham, salami and cold meats with crusty bread and cheese

* Caesar Salad

* BBQ Chicken with salad

* Frittata

* Savoury Muffins

* Salt and Pepper Squid

* Warm Chicken Salad

* Lamb cutlets with salad and herbed potatoes

* Prawn and fish skewers

* Atlantic Salmon with salad

* Grilled Fish with potato wedges

* Chicken Burgers

* Salad Nicoise

* Home made Pizza

* Beef Burgers

* Barbecue Gourmet Sausages

* Baked Potatoes with various fillings

* Nachos

* Stir Fry Noodles &amp Vegetables

These Summer meals can be enjoyed outdoors, served with a leafy green salad and some fresh crusty bread. A great option for dessert is a fresh fruit platter with all your family’s favourites. Enjoy balmy Summer evenings by eating outdoors, there will be less mess and it will enhance everyone s appetite.

Bon Apetit!

This article is courtesy of Sandy Prosdocimo, Owner and Editor of Smart-Mums, everything Mums need… Visit the website today at http://www.smart-mums.com.au

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Surf s Up At Baskin-Robbins!
By Julia Roy

Sweeeeet! Baskin-Robbins, the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty stores, is blasting into summer with a selection of new and refreshing frozen treats in celebration of Sony Pictures Animation’s animated action-comedy Surf’s Up, in theaters June 8, 2007. Baskin-Robbins is introducing seven gnarly surfing-themed frozen treats to get ice cream lovers geared up for summer. Baskin-Robbins is also making a splash from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean with a mobile tour and the Big Wave Instant Win Game.

Baskin-Robbins is creating a frenzy of excitement this summer with its new tubular Surf’s Up inspired flavors, Penguin Swirl and Splish Splash?. Ice cream lovers will go wild for the flavors’ unique colors, as the black ice cream and blue sherbet turns tongues penguin black and ocean blue within the first lick. In addition, consumers can cool-off with one of Baskin-Robbins refreshing new Fruit Blast Smoothies, a combination of real fruit and non-fat frozen yogurt, available in a variety of new and exotic fruit flavors like Berry Pomegranate Banana.

“Baskin-Robbins is going back to its California roots to bring summer fun to its customers,” said Scott Colwell, Baskin-Robbins’ vice president of marketing. “We are excited to kick-off our mobile tour and help ice cream enthusiasts sweeten their day with our refreshing new treats.”

Surf’s Up Ice Cream Treats
This summer Baskin-Robbins invites dudes and dudettes to dive into summer with some irresistible ice cold treats. Baskin-Robbins Surf’s Up ice cream and frozen treats are available at participating stores nationwide now through August 19, 2007, while supplies last.

Penguin Swirl: A swirl of black Mixed Berry ice cream and white Tutti Fruiti ice.

Splish Splash?: A refreshing blend of Blue Raspberry sherbet swirled with Blueberry ice.

Fruit Blast Smoothie: Real fruit blended with non-fat frozen yogurt blasts a smooth and satisfying flavor. Available in new Berry Pomegranate Banana, Strawberry-Banana and Mango.

Fruit Blast: Real fruit blended with ice, blasts a refreshing bold and intense flavor. Available in new Berry Pomegranate, new Blue Raspberry, Strawberry-Citrus, and Wild Mango.

Penguin Cone: A frosted penguin leaning up against a palm tree is a refreshing change to Baskin-Robbins single scoop of ice cream in a sugar cone.

Surf’s Up Sundae: Beat the heat with a tropical treat! Very Berry Strawberry, World Class? Chocolate and Nutty Coconut ice creams layered with pineapple topping and crushed graham cracker, topped with whipped cream, half a banana and a Surf’s Up chocolate bar.

Surf’s Up Ice Cream Cake: A full sheet cake transformed into a beach scene, complete with Cody and Tank riding the waves. Available in Baskin-Robbins new Fudge Crunch Cake, a layer of fudge and chocolate crunchies in between two layers of ice cream.

Cruising Coast to Coast
Baskin-Robbins is cruising to cities across the country this summer with the Surf’s Up mobile tour. The mobile vehicle, fashioned with colorful pictures of Surf’s Up characters Cody, Lani and Chicken Joe, will provide consumers with the opportunity to sample Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavors, play the new Surf’s Up video game by Ubisoft, and get sweet treats and deals. The mobile tour will hit the road on June 1, 2007 beginning in Los Angeles and New York and making stops in 31 cities including San Diego, Sacramento, Calif., San Francisco, Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Houston, and Dallas. The east coast tour will conclude in Dallas on July 16, 2007 and the west coast tour will conclude in Fresno, Calif. on July 31, 2007.

Catch a Wave and Win
To create an even bigger splash this summer, Baskin-Robbins has created the Big Wave Instant Win Game online. Contestants can visit www.bigwaveblast.com or www.baskinrobbins.com/bigwave to view scenes from Surf’s Up and see if Cody Maverick successfully rides the wave. When Cody hangs ten, the contestant wins! If Cody wipes out, consumers receive a coupon offer for Fruit Blast Smoothies and can come back again the next day for a chance to win. Consumers can play each day through July 31, 2007 for a chance to win Baskin-Robbins coupons and many exciting prizes including:

Two all-inclusive trips for four to Jamaica

Surf’s Up video games, DVDs and more!

In addition to the Big Wave Instant Win Game, the Web site offers even more Surf s Up inspired fun including the Gnarly Name Generator , downloadable Surf s Up wallpaper, screen savers, buddy icons, a mini-version of the Surf s Up video game by Ubisoft and more.

Flavor History and Innovation
Baskin-Robbins has created more than 1,000 ice cream flavors over the past 61 years, many inspired by fashions, people, events in time and pop culture trends. Baskin-Robbins continues to be the leader in ice cream flavor innovation by consistently introducing new ice cream flavors to its extensive flavor library. The iconic brand is committed to delighting taste buds of all ages with exciting new and traditional menu options.

About Baskin-Robbins
Baskin-Robbins, the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, creates and markets innovative, high-quality ice cream, specialty frozen desserts and beverages in more than 5,600 retail shops around the globe. Baskin-Robbins was founded by two ice cream enthusiasts whose passion led to the creation of more than 1,000 ice cream flavors and a wide variety of delicious treats. Headquartered in Canton, Mass., Baskin-Robbins is part of the Dunkin’ Brands, Inc. family of companies. For further information, visit www.baskinrobbins.com.

About Surf’s Up
Surf’s Up is an animated action-comedy that delves behind the scenes of the high-octane world of competitive surfing. The film profiles teenage Rockhopper penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf), an up-and-coming surfer, as he enters his first pro competition. Followed by a camera crew to document his experiences, Cody leaves his family and home in Shiverpool, Antarctica to travel to Pen Gu Island for the Big Z Memorial Surf Off. Along the way, Cody meets Sheboygan surfer Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), famous surf promoter Reggie Belafonte (James Woods), surf talent scout Mikey Abromowitz (Mario Cantone), and spirited lifeguard Lani Aliikai (Zooey Deschanel), all of whom recognize Cody’s passion for surfing, even if it’s a bit misguided at times. Cody believes that winning will bring him the admiration and respect he desires, but when he unexpectedly comes face-to-face with a washed-up old surfer (Jeff Bridges), Cody begins to find his own way, and discovers that a true winner isn’t always the one who comes in first.

About Columbia Pictures:
Columbia Pictures, part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution television production and distribution digital content creation and distribution worldwide channel investments home entertainment acquisition and distribution operation of studio facilities development of new entertainment products, services and technologies and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

About Sony Pictures Animation:
Sony Pictures Animation was established in May 2002 to enable Sony Pictures Entertainment to tap into the vast imagination of the creative community, develop characters and stories that are best realized through digital production and bring entertainment for audiences of all ages to the screen. The division’s first film, Open Season, was released in September, 2006. Sony Pictures Animation currently is in production on Surf’s Up (due in theaters June 8, 2007) and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs (spring 2009).

? &amp ©2007 Sony Pictures Animation, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Summer Smoothies
By Kit Heathcock

Vitamin packed indulgence in a glass

The summer sun swelters outside. Inside it is warm, the fruit bowl sits lusciously on the window sill, bursting with seasonal plenty - peaches, mangoes, grapes as well as the year round banana. All of the fruit is at point of perfect ripeness, begging to be eaten right now before it descends into a pool of pulp. It could have stayed in the fridge and been brought out in economical relays to ripen for a day, but there is something about a full fruit bowl, a promise of health and succulence, that time and again makes me arrange it as a still life, as I unpack the shopping, only to be wrong-footed when it all ripens at the same time. Typically the children are only bothering to eat apples, which last forever in the fridge. Desperate measures are called for.

It is time to make smoothies. Even children, who wouldn’t give a second glance to raw fruit, can usually be beguiled by a smoothy. It is also a special treat for adults, an easy thing to do for visitors who drop by, when it’s too hot for tea. Any ripe fruit can be used, even if it is slightly overripe, as long as it still smells good and not fermenting. You get a mega-dose of vitamins, plus calcium from the yoghurt and milk, almost a meal in itself. Healthy eating in a glass!

Giving a recipe for a smoothy is hardly necessary. It depends on what you have in the house already. Use this example as a template and adapt and change it as you like. As long as you use fruit that is truly ripe, it’ll be delicious. The one essential piece of equipment is a liquidiser or food processor, without that I’d just have to force feed the children the fruit as is, it is far too laborious to puree fruit by hand on a hot summer’s day. The joy making smoothies is the effortlessness.

No set quantities, but as a guide I’d use one mango with one or two bananas. Just peel and stone the fruit, fling it into the liquidiser with a large dollop of plain yoghurt and a cup of milk and blitz. If it is too thick for your liking add more milk. Chuck in some ice cubes for instant chill factor.

A tip for dealing with mangoes: without peeling, slice off both the long sides as close to the stone as you can., cut the flesh in a criss-cross fashion to make 1cm cubes, without going right through the skin, then push the skin up to invert the cubes into a mango hedgehog! The children eat them like this and a very messy business it is, needing a bath afterwards.

Suggestions for fruit combinations:

• Mango and banana
• Pear, berry and banana
• Peach and berry
• Strawberry and banana
• Peach, apricot and banana

Any fruit in the whole wide world can be added to this list, experiment with whatever is in season and make up your own combinations.

Bananas make a good background for most other fruits and give a good velvety texture, besides being the most likely fruit to have around overripe. If you want to move away from the healthy fruit scenario, you can use bananas with a few teaspoons of hot chocolate to make a scrummy, decadent milkshake. Or go the whole way and put a blob of vanilla ice-cream in too. I remember as a child, my mother adding a raw egg to ours to build us up. It made it wonderfully frothy, but then nobody worried about salmonella in those days - I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a guaranteed source of salmonella-free eggs.

If you have berries of any sort stashed in the freezer, you can throw in a handful still frozen and watch the colour transform as you blitz. Mulberries, blackberries, youngberries, blueberries all add deep colour and plenty of useful nutrients, loads of anti-oxidants - instant immune boosters in winter, if you can keep them until then. I usually freeze strawberries as puree, when the strawberry harvest overwhelms us, so can bring it out for a change later on in the year. The other berries I freeze whole, stalks and leaves picked off, so they are ready to use. You can also buy frozen berries in mixed packs, which would work fine.

Whatever fruit you’re using, let the children press the buttons on the liquidiser and then dole out the smoothie, in glasses with straws, easy in the knowledge that the vitamin quota for the day is being filled.

Copyright 2006 Kit Heathcock

AUTHOR BIO: Sometime flower photographer, keen observer of the resonances of life and fulltime mother. One time food connoisseur now reduced to the practicalities of feeding multiple children. Born in the UK but now living on a farm in the southern hemisphere. Contributor to the creation and maintenance of http://www.aflowergallery.com.

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