Mouthing Off

Courtesy of The City Bakery

One of the best hot chocolates in the country will soon be available nationwide. New York’s City Bakery has become famous for its dedication to hot chocolate: During its annual Hot Chocolate Festival in February, it offers different flavors (fresh ginger, bourbon) every day. But owner Maury Rubin’s classic version has the biggest cult following. Count F&W’s editor in chief, Dana Cowin, among the drink’s fervent devotees. “I will take a 40-minute trip downtown for this hot chocolate because it’s available nowhere else in the universe,” she says. That's about to change.

Courtesy of Spicely Organic Spices.

F&W Executive Food Editor Tina Ujlaki applies her incredible cooking knowledge to explaining what to do with a variety of interesting ingredients.

Buying spices can be a big investment in two ways—spices tend to be pricey, and you sometimes have to buy way more than you need for a specific recipe you’re curious to try. I discovered Spicely Spices when I needed 1 teaspoon of pink peppercorns, and I was so thrilled to find a tiny box of them that contained just a little more than the recipe called for. The company packs its all-organic spices in larger jars too, but I’ve come to rely on the small boxes to sample spices I’m not familiar with, for spices that I don’t use very often and also for seasonings to pack in my bag if I’m going away for a week, or even just heading off to cook part of a holiday meal at a friend’s house.

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Spicy Recipes

Potato Chips with Nori Salt. © Frances Janisch

Keep your carrot sticks and jugs of juiced kale, I say; give me potato chips. As far as I’m concerned, they’re the ultimate snack food. And, in general, America seems to agree, since we eat about 17 pounds per person per year of them (according to the USDA). And—the key consideration here—they actually go well with wine. So in a kind of nod to public service, here are some suggestions for potato chip pairing. »

In this easy one-pot braise, you get the best possible combination:
crisp-skinned chicken and a luscious wine sauce.
© Lucy Schaeffer

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

One of the great perks of working at Food & Wine is that my kitchen is conveniently located about 15 feet from the wine tasting room. When Ray Isle and Megan Krigbaum, our wine gurus, have finished tasting a few wines, they often give us the nearly full bottles to cook with (uh, yeah, cook).

In true quid pro quo fashion, they eat what we produce and we drink what they discard (which is fine by me). Everybody’s happy! This quickly braised chicken dish calls for a bold, fruity white wine with a nice balance of sweetness and acidity, which is why a California Chardonnay, not too oaky, works extremely well. The acidity mellows the buttery richness of the chicken while toning down some of the sweetness of the parsnips. The recipe serves 4—in my case, my husband and I and our two kids, which works out nicely since it calls for an entire cup of wine, leaving just enough for my husband and I to enjoy with the meal. SEE RECIPE »

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Christmas Cookie Gifts Tags © Seton Rossini.

F&W’s Seton Rossini applies her graphic design talents to the gorgeous dessert blog Pixel Whisk. Some of her entertaining showstoppers include cupcakes that so closely resemble adorable potted succulent plants that recipients might be tempted to water them, and DIY cake stands made from vintage plates and goblets. Here, she explains how to create clever edible gift tags using a delicious Food & Wine sugar cookie recipe flecked with lemon zest. As Seton says "These tasty Christmas cookies can double as gift tags, place settings or even ornaments! (Just keep your dogs and toddlers away from the tree or your ornaments will go missing.)"

To see how to transform cookies in just a few steps click through the slideshow

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Courtesy of The Cooper Square Hotel

F&W Executive Food Editor Tina Ujlaki applies her incredible cooking knowledge to explaining what to do with a variety of interesting ingredients.

When I was in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, last year doing some restaurant research for Best New Chefs, every single dish I had that included olives featured Castelvetranos, the rich, buttery, bright green, round olives from the town of the same name in Sicily. What makes them so remarkable probably has a lot to do with the variety itself, the soil and the terroir overall, but because they’re harvested young and salt-brined lightly, their delicious, distinctive olive flavor also isn’t overshadowed by vinegar or salt. You can serve them on their own, in salads and really in any dish where the mild flavor won’t be eclipsed—and they’re fantastic in cocktails, too!

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Holiday Cocktail Party
F&W's Ultimate Holiday Guide

The Alpine Mai Tai Courtesy of The Beehive

Often sugary or creamy, holiday drinks frequently taste more like liquid dessert than balanced cocktails. “The temptation is to do peppermint this and gingerbread that,” says Nate Hayden, bartender at The Beehive, a jazz club, bar and restaurant in Boston’s South End. “But we wanted to create something fun and slightly sweet, but also with real complexity to it as well.” Inspired by the nostalgic scent of pine trees, Hayden came up with the Alpine Mai Tai.

Chef Dan Barber. // © Andrew Hetherington

While the Euro may still exist, and kitchen refrigerators aren’t posting online status updates just yet, other predictions made during The World in 2012 Festival hosted last year by The Economist proved to be on point—like the euro-zone crisis and Facebook's first public offering. With global hunger issues on the rise, and today's chefs garnering as much attention as rock stars, the future of food will be a hot topic at this year's The World in 2013 Festival, held December 6 and 8 in NYC. Chef-activist and writer Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns will discuss the current global food crisis, focusing on issues of worldwide obesity, agricultural sustainability and soaring food prices.

Facebook co-founder Sean Parker and Daniel Ek, founder of social music platform Spotify, are slated to kick off the two-day event with a technology and society panel at Thursday’s gala dinner. A roster of notable figures in politics, business, science and the arts—including chef Barber—round out the line-up on Saturday, leading discussions and debates on topics ranging from human nature to issues in energy, health care and the world’s emerging economies.

The Economist is selling full package tickets for both Thursday night’s dinner and Saturday’s speaker panels for $550. Separate tickets are $495 and $75, respectively. A schedule of the festival’s events, speakers and topics is available here. 

Follow Jasmin on Twitter @jasminsun.

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© Kathryn Rathke

The truth about wine grapes is that they rarely have one name—Pinot Noir, for instance, may be Pinot Noir to you and me (and to the French), but to the Austrians it’s Blauburgunder, to the Italians it’s Pinot Nero and to the Croatians it’s either Burgundac Crni or Modra Klevanyka, though I’m a bit vague on why it’s sometimes one and sometimes the other. In any case, here’s a handy guide to some of the more common of wine’s identical twins »

Australia has more than 65 wine regions, each of them with its own climate and soil type. As a result, the wines from each region have their own distinctive characters. Here’s a geographic guide to Aussie Shiraz:

Shiraz: A Regional Guide. Art © Alex Nabaum.

Warm Climate (Pink Dots)
Regions: Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Heathcote, Langhorne Creek
Character: Ripe blackberries, massively rich, lots of power
Wine to Try: 2010 Torbreck Barossa Valley Woodcutter’s Shiraz ($22)
Food Pairing: Braised short ribs

Moderate Climate (Green)
Regions: Eden Valley, Clare Valley, Margaret River
Character: Tangy blackberries, substantial body, licorice and black pepper notes
Wine to Try: 2010 Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Clare Valley Shiraz ($19)
Food Pairing: Lamb chops

Cool Climate (Blue)
Regions: Great Southern, Yarra Valley, Coonawarra, Frankland River
Character: Raspberries, medium-bodied with higher acidity, herb and white pepper notes
Wine to Try: 2010 Innocent Bystander Victoria Shiraz ($20)
Food Pairing: Roast duck

Related: In Defense of Australian Shiraz