Book Review: United States of Arugula

Have you read this? 

Never before has a civilization had so much access to so great a variety of foodstuffs. David Kamp knows how we came to be here. In The United States of Arugula: How We Became A Gourmet Nation, Kamp examines how we went from a nation of Jell-O salads and Shake N’Bake to the gourmet-loving country we are today.

The United States of Arugula chronicles America's biggest and most influential culinary personalities and describes the dramatically changes to the landscape of American food. The stars of the story are food pioneers Craig Claiborne, James Beard, and Julia Child, or as he refers to them, “the Big Three”. Kamp supplies an engaging account of their careers and explains how they shaped much of what we know of cooking today. Each paved the way for those who followed - Child as the early TV pioneer who made French-style cooking accessible to housewives across the country; Beard as the author of several best-selling cookbooks, some still considered definitive; and Claiborne as the first food critic for the New York Times and also a cookbook author - all redefining our views of gastronomy over the years.

Kamp continues the attention on the personalities that dominate the culinary world with several pages on Alice Waters and her focus on fresh and seasonal cuisine that created a shift from technique to ingredients. The revolution she started with her menus at the legendary Chez Panisse restaurant also induced a perceptual geographic shift from the East to the West Coast, and contributed to organic produce and free-range chickens entering our collective conversations. We also learn how Whole Foods, Zabar's, Dean & DeLuca, and Williams Sonoma got started and find out that Peet’s Coffee in the Bay Area led to Starbucks across the country. Chefs Jeremiah Tower, Thomas Keller, and Wolfgang Puck make cameo appearances.

I most enjoyed the book when Kamp makes parallels between culinary trends and the consumerism that has evolved since World War II. He shows how the prevailing French influence was not accidental, as it came about with the influx of kitchen workers from France after the war and continues today to what kitchenware we purchase. Leveraging the writings of others who recognized aspects of the same phenomenon, the author accurately shows how food has become a status symbol on our culture for the good life to which we aspire.

In the book's final section, the advent of the Food Network is seen as a touchstone for this pervasive thinking, as a new set of celebrity chefs - Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, and Rachael Ray among them - instruct us on what we should be doing to maximize our enjoyment of cooking in the kitchen.

This is certainly a fun read for any foodie, and author David Kamp, a writer who contributes to Vanity Fair and GQ, does an entertaining job of providing both a historical perspective and a current look at the culinary industry.

Bring Forward Leftover Rice

My mother's family referred to leftovers as brought-forwards. You know, bring it forward from the back of the refrigerator...I think of it also as bringing forward a new taste and giving an ingredient or ingredients another opportunity to shine and bring you joy.

That is what I decided to do with our leftover brown rice. I brought it forward and turned it into coconut rice pudding. It was delicious.

Coconut Rice Pudding

2 cups cooked brown rice

2 cups milk

1 to 1 1/2 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup sugar

pinch salt

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp or more of almond extract or amaretto

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup toasted coconut

Combine cooked rice, milk, coconut milk, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan. Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer and stir in raisins and almond extract. Keep stirring to break down rice and make creamy. You may want to add a bit more milk to make it the consistency you prefer. Cook until almost all the liquid is absorbed, at least 30 minutes, depending on how absorbent your rice is. Stir in cinnamon and toasted coconut. Divide rice pudding into individual serving dishes serve warm or chilled.

Hot Cross Morning

I asked my husband if he wanted anything special for Easter, and he replied he wanted Hot Cross Buns for Easter breakfast. He knows that question always means what does he want me to cook or bake...

I could not remember ever making Hot Cross Buns before. I'm sure my mother made them for us, and I likely helped, but I never made them as an adult.

Like many times before, I did some research and pieced together a recipe...

Hot Cross Buns

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg for dough, 1 large egg for brushing

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 cup currants

Milk and confectioner's sugar for icing/glaze - amount depends on texture you prefer

Combine water and milk in saucepan and warm until about 100 degrees F. Remove from heat and sprinkle yeast and pinch of sugar over surface of liquid. Set aside with out stirring, until foamy and rising up the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.

Whisk the butter, 1 egg, and vanilla into the yeast mixture.

Stir the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Stir to make thick, slightly sticky dough. Stir in currants. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and elastic. You may have to add more flour. Shape into a ball.

Brush the inside a large bowl with butter. Put dough in bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size. It look a little over an hour.

Turn out dough and divide into 12 equal portions and make into round rolls. Place them in a buttered 9 x 13 inch baking pan, leaving a little space in between each roll. Cover the pan and let rise until the rolls almost reach rim of pan, more than doubled. It took about 45 minutes.

Brush buns with beaten egg. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven until brown and puffy, about 25 minutes.

For the glaze, stir together confectioner's sugar and milk until smooth. Use a pastry bag or zip-loc bag to ice buns in a thick cross shape over the top of the warm buns.

Whiskey Punch for Easter

Punch is a big hit in our house. We try to always have a flowing bowl each time we have guests.

For our Easter dinner, I decided to make a whiskey punch. Everyone enjoyed it, even folks who were hesitant because they aren't fans of whiskey. Crazy, right?

The punch was a lovely golden color and I used orange and lemon slices to garnish. To keep the punch cold, I made ice blocks in washed and reused milk and juice cartons.

Here's the recipe, but keep in mind I don't normally advocate use of juice concentrate, but I was making a lot of goodies for our meal, and it was really easy to use frozen lemonade. Plus, I don't think the taste suffers quite as much for lemonade as other flavors.

Whiskey Punch

1 can of frozen lemonade (I prefer Minute Maid)

3 cups of orange juice

18 ounces of pineapple juice

2 liters of ginger ale

1 pint of whiskey

1/2 cup of simple syrup

I combined the juices, whiskey, and simple syrup ahead of time to meld flavors and kept everything in the refrigerator. Just before serving, I placed the ice blocks and fruit slices in the punch bowl. I gave the mixture one last stir in the refrigerator pitcher, then poured over the ice. Finally, I added the 2 liter bottle of ginger ale.

Lemon Meringue Memories

I was feeling nostalgic as I planned our Easter meal, so I decided to make a couple of pies that my grandmother always made - Chocolate and Lemon Meringue.

I couldn't find her recipe for Lemon Meringue, so I tried to re-create it based on some online research.

I felt sure it would come out well. I mean, look at how pretty it looks. And, my husband and I had a lot of fun making it together. However, once we sliced it for our guests, it was still a bit soupy. Any advice or suggestions are welcome. Here's what we did...

Lemon Meringue Pie

Makes 1 9-inch pie


4 egg yolks

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp butter

juice of two lemons (about 1/2 cup)

zest of 1 lemon

1 9-inch pre-baked pie shell

Whisk egg yolks and set aside. In medium saucepan, whisk together cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Turn heat on medium, and stirring frequently, bring to a boil. Boil for at least 1 minute. Remove from heat and use it gradually to temper the egg yolks.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn down heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, for at least one more minute. Remove from heat and add butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined.

Pour mixture into shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Bake for 12 minutes until meringue is golden.

We cooled the pie on a rack, and then kept in overnight in a pie carrier in the refrigerator. The meringue didn't weep much at all and the flavor was pretty nice, but the filling sure was runny.

To make meringue topping: You can use a meringue powder, but I used the whites from the 4 egg yolks that were used for the filling.  Make sure your bowl if very clean and dry and there are no yolk remnants so as not to interfere with foaming.  Whip egg whites and 1/8 tsp of cream of tarter for each white.  I used a hand-held mixer and whip until stiff peaks form.  Stiff peaks hold their shape and form when the egg white foam is glossy and clings to the bowl.

To prevent weeping from meringues, be careful not to underwhip or overwhip the egg whites.  Also apply the meringue to a lukewarm (neither cold nor hot) filling.