The Feed: February 20, 2013

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites.


James Beard Foundation: “The 2013 Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists,” by JBF Editors. The semifinalists, also known as the longlist, were announced yesterday for the 2013 James Beard Awards in the restaurant and chef categories. It’s great to see two restaurants I visited last year make the cut for Best New Restaurant: Mintwood Place in D.C. and Empellon Cocina in New York—and interesting that another notable newcomer, The NoMad, did not make it. Finalist nominees will be culled from these lists and announced March 18.

Washington Post: “DIY cottage cheese: Yes, you should,” by Bonnie S. Benwick. Last year, I had the pleasure of learning to make homemade ricotta cheese. After reading Benwick’s article, I’m ready to give cottage cheese a try. If you’ve ever had the dreamy cottage cheese Chef Vickie Reh makes at Buck’s Fishing & Camping—nicely profiled in this story, complete with a recipe—you know the cheese they are talking about is nothing like the gloppy muck at the supermarket. Cowgirl Creamery also gets a deserved shout out.

New York Times: “Beans and Red Wine: Party Hearty,” by Melissa Clark. The Good Appetite writer offers a simple, perfect-for-winter recipe for hearty bean soup made with wine, vegetables and (if you’re in the mood and you really should be) bacon. Here’s the recipe.

Bon Appétit: “The 20 Most Important Restaurants in America,” by Andrew Knowlton.
These aren’t the restaurants with the most stars or the richest history (don’t look for The French Laundry or Chez Panisse), but rather, as Knowlton writes, they are “the restaurants that matter right now.” It’s a nice mix of the classic (Le Bernardin), upscale (Eleven Madison Park), popular (Momofuku), modern (Pok Pok) and modernist (Alinea).

GQ: “The Perfect Night Out: The 12 Most Outstanding Restaurants of 2013,” by Alan Richman.
GQ also delivers a “best of” restaurants list, albeit with less recognizable names than Bon Appétit’s, although D.C.’s hottest Thai restaurant, Little Serow, made the cut.

Bon Appétit: “10 Things to Do with Peanut Butter,” by Teri Tsang Barrett. I’m mad about peanut butter, so this is definitely a “had me at hello” kind of article. Peanut butter popcorn? Yes. Pork skewers with peanut sauce? Yes! Buckeyes? Sold!