ALL ABOUT FOOD: On the cutting edge of cookery

FYI, some PANS 4U2eat. RUUP4IT?

Translation for the non-IM (instant messaging) crowd: “For your information, some pretty awesome new stuff for you to eat. Are you up for it?�

If you can read this without the translation, you may already know what a twecipe or a recessipe is. ANFCD (and now for something completely different) for you troglodytes who still use cookbooks or epicurious.comfor your recipes, something new has come upon the Internet scene and we are here to explain it as best we can.

Twecipe: an extremely abbreviated recipe published via Twitter, that provides cooking instructions in no more than 140 characters.

Even some top chefs are getting in on the phenomenon such as Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay. These are amazing condensations of cooking instructions, ingredients, temperatures and times.

For instance, here is a great little recipe for biscotti.

Biscotti: mix1/3c sug/3T oil/egg/t anise flavr +c flour/t bkgpwdr. Roll log to fit bkgpan; pat down. 30m@375. Slice~14; brwn+6m/side.

Since this is your first twecipe, we will translate it for you.

Mix 1/3 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons of oil, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon anise flavoring, 1 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Roll into a log that will fit in your baking pan, then pat it down lightly. Bake for 30 minutes at 375. Cut into 14 slices and brown for six minutes on each side.

The above recipe comes from Maureen Evans, a 27 year-old creative writing student in Belfast who does these twecipes as a hobby, kind of like Sudoku. She challenges herself to get the most complex recipes into 140 characters.

She has more than 6,000 followers on Twitter.comand has received coverage in The New York Times and the British press. You can become part of her network by going to: twitter.com/cookbook@Maureen.

From our very own star chef, Mitch Gillan of French 75, here is a twecipe for shallot confit. It has many delicious uses. A tablespoon or two can be added to mashed, fried or baked potatoes. Use it as a condiment on steak, lamb or burgers, especially combined with cheese. Spread it on toasted baguette rounds with cheese on top. Try blue or brie, they work well.

Preheat oven 200°/combine 6 lg shallots chopped+2 thyme sprig+1C EVOO+8blk pepprcrns in sm bkng dish. Bk2 hrs. Strain/remove pepprcrns & thyme. [Note: EVOO=extra virgin olive oil.]

And now a twecipe from Kimmy Wilson, a member of Laguna’s Generation Y, the kids who grew up with a cell phone attached to their ear. She loves to cook and plans to attend culinary school. This is her favorite recipe translated into Twitterspeak.

Roast Chicken: Mix 4oz btr, juice ½ lemon, 2t salt, 1t blk pepr, ½ t paprka, ½ t rsmry, 3 clv grlic mashd/ rub chx/ bake 2 ¼-2 1/2 hr @ 350/baste often.

Tough economic times have led to another popular Internet happening: the Recessipe, a cost-saving recipe for home cooked meals. They are easy on the waistline and the wallet, leaving your stomach as well as your bank account full. People who prepare these meals and take other measures for living on the cheap may be called Recessionistas.

Rosa of Olamendis Mexican Restaurant has generously sent us one of her healthiest recipes for an entrée to feed four people for less than $10.

 

Cheep and Cheesy Chicken

1 whole chicken breast (or 2 halves) on the bone

3 cloves garlic

½ onion

1 teaspoon salt

3 zucchini, sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1 red bell pepper cut in strips

1 tomato, sliced in wedges

1 onion, cut in half and sliced

salt and pepper to taste

½ cup Monterrey jack cheese, shredded

1. Put chicken breast in two cups of water. Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Discard water.

2. Add two cups of fresh water, chicken, 2 cloves of garlic cut in half, ½ onion and 1 teaspoon of salt. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Take out chicken, discard skin, remove from bone and shred. If desired, save broth for another use.

3. Salt zucchini rounds and broil for 5 minutes.

4. Sauté onions, 1 clove crushed garlic, oregano, cumin, bell peppers and tomatoes in oil until crisp-tender.

5. Add chicken to onion and pepper mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. Put in casserole, sprinkle with cheese and broil until cheese melts.

This recipe has less than 300 calories per person. You can even afford to serve it with rice.

 

Cutting edge jargon

In the interest of keeping you up to speed on Internet parlance, here are some of the most recent postings in the trendy world of food jargon.

 Carniwhore: Frank Bruni of the New York Times coined this term after eating at the restaurant “Animal� in LA. It is, “… a promiscuously meaty approach to cooking. The Carniwhore School holds that no beast bests the pig in its multi-faceted pleasures, that offal shouldn’t be relegated to just one or two side dishes on the margin of the main feast. And if you think something might taste better fried, go ahead and fry it. Arteries be damned. What it promotes isn’t so much decadent eating as daredevil eating.�

 Gourmonsters: Food snobs or the food police

 Arugulance: A combination of arugula and arrogance, defined as a perceived attitude of snobbery, manifested in an appetite for these pricey yet delicious, peppery greens. Probably coined in 2007 by Michael Bates in his blog. Popularized by Maureen Dowd in her New York Times interview with Alice Waters, who replied to her detractors by saying, “I’m just put into that arugulance place.�

We hope to keep you on the cutting edge of food news, no pun intended.

ELLE HARROW and TERRY MARKOWITZ owned A La Carte for 20 years. They can be reached for comments or questions at [email protected]