By JANET K. KEELER from staff and wire reports
Published July 2, 2003
Pie
[Times photo: Cherie Diez]
Bilmar Beach Resort's Guinness Ice Cream Sundae.
[Photo: Dacor]
Luxury grill
Pie
Pie is so closely associated with America that one might think the first person ever to stuff apples and sugar into crust was a cherubic grandmother from the Midwest. It's a misconception as American as apple pie.
Pies originated in Europe as savory dishes filled with meat and vegetables. In The Penguin Companion to Food (Penguin, 1991), Alan Davidson writes that the word pie likely derived from magpie, a bird that is prone to collecting a variety of things to eat and to pack into its nest. A collection of ingredients is essential in a pie, savory or sweet.
Early pies were large and almost always had a pastry top. Today, the tops are often made of something else, such as mashed potatoes (shepherd's pie) or a sweet, crumbly mixture (French apple pie). In the United States, one-crust pies are prevalent, such as cream pies or Florida's favorite key lime.
Though the pie has roots in European cuisine, it's in America that its legend has grown to mean more than food. It is woven into the cultural fabric of the country thanks, in part, to Don McLean's American Pie.
We buy pies frozen or ready to eat at the grocery store. We order a slice at the diner and wash it down with strong coffee. We even grab an easy-to-eat version in the drive-through. And on the Fourth of July, we eat pie loaded with coveted summer peaches and berries.
Even Miss American Pie might stick around for that.
Hot dog heaven
If you like your dogs grilled, here are some tips from Hebrew National:
-- Brush hot dogs with grapeseed oil to give their skin a gentle crispness. (Grapeseed oil has a higher flashpoint than other common oils, so it can take more heat without burning the food.)
-- Rub garlic cloves or spice rubs on the bun before grilling.
-- Grill hot dogs on an open fire and give them a smoky flavor by adding wood chips.
One potato, two potatoes
Waxy round white and round red potatoes are two good bets for potato salad. Russets, which include Idaho potatoes, are generally considered better for baking and mashing, because they have a dry, fluffy interior. They tend to crumble when cubed, but some people like them for salads anyway because they soak up dressing. Do not overcook the potatoes or you will have mashed potato salad. They should be fork tender but still firm.
A case of grill envy?
A recent Weber-Stephen Products survey says that more than half of Americans said they would like to own a luxury grill with lots of accessories, and one-quarter said they dreamed of owning a bigger, more expensive grill than their neighbors. The survey respondents said their dream grill would be self-cleaning and have side burners and a timer to let them know when food was ready.
Rub a dub dub
Tired of marinating everything in bottled Italian dressing before tossing it on the grill? Try these spice rubs for something different.
Fragrant spice rub: 1/4 to 1/2 cup hot chili powder, 1/2 tight-packed cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup ground cumin, 3/4 cup ground coriander, 2 tablespoons salt and 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper. Combine in an airtight jar. Rub on fish, meat and poultry. Add to stews and stir-fries. Sprinkle on grilled vegetables as they cook. Delicious with olive oil over ripe tomatoes. Keeps in refrigerator for two weeks.
Asian rub: Puree together 1/3 cup Fragrant Spice Rub, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger. Use in same way as Fragrant Spice Rub.
Mexican rub: Combine 1/3 cup Fragrant Spice Rub, shredded zest of a small orange, juice of a small orange and 2 garlic cloves, minced. Any blend with fresh garlic should be refrigerated and used within 24 hours.
Turtle delight
Turtle Delight is the latest flavor to join Smucker's Magic Shell ice cream topping line. Squeeze the Turtle Delight from the plastic bottle onto ice cream and it freezes in seconds. Then crack the shell and eat with a spoon for the flavor of chocolate, caramel and pecan candy. Look for the product in the ice cream topping section of supermarkets. Cost is $1.99 a bottle.
Sundae winner
You probably don't think of Sloppy Joe's as a place to eat ice cream, but the restaurant at the Bilmar Beach Resort on Treasure Island (10650 Gulf Blvd.; (727) 367-1600) has been honored for its Guinness Ice Cream Sundae. Icecreamsundae.com, an ice cream marketing and consulting organization in Ithaca, N.Y., deemed the sundae the best in the land in honor of July's National Ice Cream Month. The sundae is made of Guinness ice cream topped with caramel sauce on a "tin roof" of salted beer nuts. We'll drink to that!
