Articles about Books

The Barbecue at Daniel Vaughn’s Book Signing Parties is Lick-Your-Fingers Good

Daniel Vaughn in a snazzy shirt (left); Tim Byres' smoked meat (right) photos by Matthew Shelley

Daniel Vaughn and his snazzy shirt (left); Tim Byres’ smoked meat (right) photos by Matthew Shelley

Don’t worry, guys. Daniel Vaughn, the BBQ Snob and new Texas Monthly barbecue editor, will never get too big for his brisket. Even though he did hold his most recent book signing for The Prophets of Smoked Meat at a place called Stodghill Manor last Friday, everyone wore “barbecue attire,” drank beer, and dug in to fatty meats with their fingers. I think Mayor Rawlings even popped up at the end, if my eyes didn’t fail me. (I heard he cussed up a storm at the “A Way With Words” charity event last week. 10 points for Gryffindor!)

At Friday’s event, Franklin’s (#1 on TM‘s 50 Best BBQ List), Pecan Lodge (#2), Lockhart Smokehouse(also on the list), and Smoke all made it to the event. Big bad boys in one, big bad place. Aaron Franklin came all the way up from Austin and borrowed a smoker from Justin Fourton of Pecan Lodge to make the most beautiful brisket I’ve ever seen. Charred black edges encircled a pink ring around smooth brown meat. That’s what I call teamwork, guys – when the number one and number two best barbecue joints in Texas join forces in the name of friendship. Cool beans.
Continue reading "The Barbecue at Daniel Vaughn’s Book Signing Parties is Lick-Your-Fingers Good"

2 Comments »

The Big Read Dallas Kick Off: Win Special Editions of Fahrenheit 451

photo by Krista Nightengale

photo by Krista Nightengale

During the month of April, the Dallas Public Library, D Magazine, and D Academy have partnered up for something called The Big Read, a month-long program to get the entire city of Dallas to read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 together. This morning, a bunch of volunteers handed out free special edition copies of Fahrenheit 451 at DART stations to kick off the initiative. There are only 25,000 copies of this edition, which includes a D logo and a note to readers on the first page. 21,000 copies have already gone out to DISD students, and the remaining books are going to the people of Dallas.

This is where you, dear SideDishers, come in.

We’re giving away 24 copies of Fahrenheit 451 on SideDish. All you have to do is tell us what Fahrenheit 451 means to you in the comments below. Each winner will receive two copies of the book: one for you, and one for a person you run into during the day (not a relative or co-worker). It’s kind of like a pay-it-forward thing. We ask that you post a photo of you and your new friend (with the books) on Facebook or Instagram afterwards. I’ll choose 12 winners at 12 p.m. on Wednesday. You’ll have to come to D Magazine’s office to pick up your prize.

Visit bigreaddallas.org for more information, and download our app because it’s cool. We have a ton of events going on this month, so check out the calendar, too.

9 Comments »

Poetry Night at the Garden Cafe is Back. Reserve Your Spot for March 8.

Poetry. Food. Wine (BYOB). Good company. The Garden Cafe‘s doing the whole shebang on March 8 at 7:00 p.m. Good luck trying to get a seat. This one will sell out pretty fast. From the depths of my email inbox:

We have had a lot of requests for Poetry Night so we are bringing it back!

Friday, March 8th!

Bring your own wine, champagne, etc. Wine glasses will be furnished and there is no corkage fee.

7:00 pm Doors Open
7:45 pm Dinner Served
9:00 pm Poetry Readings

1st course: Duck “Pico” with housemade sweet potato chip

2nd course: Wilted chard, cucumber, and red pepper relish

3rd course: Venison Backstrap – herb-blue-cheese, compound butter, and red wine reduction served with spaghetti squash and apple-raisin quinoa

4th course: Spiceman’s foraged and garden greens, Mozz Co.’s mozzarella, basil pesto, and marinated tomato

5th course: Sweet fried butternut squash, whipped mascarpone, and candied walnuts

$65.00 per person (tax + gratuity not included)

Make your reservations today by calling the Garden Cafe at 214-887-8330. Due to a limited capacity, if you do not cancel your reservation 48 hours prior to the dinner, your credit card will be charged.

3 Comments »

Q&A With Tyler Florence, Host of the Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race

Tyler, why do you have a chick on your shoulder?(via eater.com)

Tyler Florence, in all his culinary glory, will be at NorthPark’s Williams-Sonoma at noon on December 10 to sign copies of his new book, Fresh, which he says reflects where he is as a person right now. I’m predicting one heck of a line.

You probably know him from his 16 years on the Food Network, or from his seven bestselling cookbooks (this is his ninth book, after his children’s book series). He also has three California restaurants, a line of organic baby food, and a line of wines with Mondavi. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to ask this pro a few questions. Good thing this was a phone interview, so he couldn’t see how much I was geeking out.

SB: I just got my copy of the book last night and immediately started flipping through it. How did this project get started?

TF: To me, the idea of doing something very pure felt appealing this time around. It’s incredibly stripped down – we wanted to branch out and do something different that felt fresh. The first thing I do is lock myself in my office and start writing flavor profiles – make a list, brainstorm stuff, and clarify the concept. Then the recipes are tested. When I’m cooking, I can adjust things easily, but that’s not necessarily true for people at home. They take the recipe as a Bible. Testers give feedback, and we make edits at that point. The content has to be perfect.

SB: Your book is all about the need to get back to fresh ingredients because the American diet is overwhelmed with processed foods. Do you think this issue has become more serious lately?

Continue reading "Q&A With Tyler Florence, Host of the Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race"

1 Comment »

Move Over KRLD RW, Julia Child Restaurant Week Starts in Dallas on August 7

In honor of what would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday (August 15), Alfred A. Knopf is announcing Julia Child Restaurant Week, a component of the “JC100,” in partnership with more than 100 restaurants across America.

From August 7 – 15, notable chefs like Emeril Lagasse (9 of his restaurants in 4 cities), Traci Des Jardins (San Francisco, CA), Alice Waters (Berkeley, CA), Barbara Lynch (Boston, MA) and Michel Richard (Washington, D.C.) “will join the “JC100″ in the exciting celebration of Julia Child, with special menus and events inspired by one of our most beloved culinary icons.”

For four Dallas Restaurants, this celebration might present an interesting challenge. Cadot, Lavendou, Rise No.1, and Landmark at the Warwick Melrose could be participating in two official Restaurant Weeks. For, as we told you yesterday, KRLD Restaurant Week 2012 kicks off with a preview weekend (Aug 10-12) and officially invades 125 DFW restaurants on August 13 and their special menus could run for one, two, or three weeks.

KRLD Restaurant Week participants donate $7 from each $35 prix fixe dinner to the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope Home. The press release for the “JC100” says: “restaurants will feature dishes, menus or events inspired by 100 of Julia’s most cherished recipes, which were handpicked from a list of 3,700 by a jury of culinary luminaries chaired by her longtime editor Judith Jones.” Oh, and coincidentally, Alfred A. Knopf will release DEARIE: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, author Bob Spitz’s new biography of Julia.

Here’s the complete “JC100″ list. Here’s the Facebook page. Here’s a little song you can all join in with, it’s very simple and I hope its’new.

Save The Date: Mark Bittman to Speak at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas

Mark Bittman, the New York Times Magazine lead food writer, NYT’s Opinion columnist, blogger, and book author  will speak at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas on May 10. His topic, Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating, will be the focus of the Rabbi David Lefkowitz Memorial Lecture at 7:30PM  in the Olan Sanctuary. A reception and book signing will follow the lecture which is free and open to the public.

Bittman will talk about he lost 35 pounds, solved health problems, and reduced his personal impact on the environment. The lecture is FREE and their will be a book signing opportunity after the event. To RSVP for Mark Bittman’s appearance at Temple Emanu-El, contact Nancy Rivin at 214-706-0000, or nrivin@tedallas.org.

Meet Martha Stewart Tomorrow at Williams-Sonoma NorthPark

Martha Stewart, the quintessential homemaker, will be gracing Dallas with her presence tomorrow. She’ll be signing copies of her new book, Martha’s Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations at Williams-Sonoma NorthPark at 1 pm. This coffee table tome might weigh as much as a small child, but the inspiring photography and 100 pages of enticing recipes make the weight (and price tag—$75) well worth it. Give it as a gift this holiday season, or keep it for your own entertaining endeavors. It’s a “good thing.” Get more details about the event here. – Bailey Powell

2 Comments »

Holiday Gifts Part 3 – Books….

Yes, hard cover books are still published, and though your eBook or Kindle may be trying to rule your book reading world, a beautiful hard cover wine and spirits book is still good for the coffee table, kitchen, bar or (for some) nightstand.

I wish I had written the Art and Design of Contemporary Wine Labels.  I have so many friends that I know that buy wine solely based on the label….red or white, bold or soft…doesn’t matter. If they like the label they will buy it.  Which also shows you how far opinions have changed from the very Old World, European style with a chateau adorning the label.  Does it mean that wine in a bottle with a flashy label is bad? Of course not, but it may mean the winery owner is a bit more adventurous.  Tanya Scholes takes you through the whole process of how a present day label is really created.  

Continue reading "Holiday Gifts Part 3 – Books…."

Mamma Agata..From Italy with Love, and In Town Tonight

Spaghetti del contadino (Farmer's Spaghetti); Parmigiana di melanzane (Eggplant Parmigiana); Dolce al limone di Mamma Agata (Frank Sinatra's favorite Lemon Cake)

Sometimes you meet someone and you feel like they are family.  This is how Chiara Lima and her husband, Sommelier, Gennaro Petti from the Mamma Agata  cooking school on the Amalfi Coast make you feel upon meeting them.  Within two minutes you feel like you are at home with your family (a good Italian one) making dinner with a focus on simple, expressive and genuine flavors.  Chiara’s “Mamma” has been cooking since she was 8, and now at 70 has cooked for everyone from Humphrey Bogart and Elizabeth Taylor to Pierce Brosnan and Woody Harrelson.  Continue reading "Mamma Agata..From Italy with Love, and In Town Tonight"

4 Comments »

Book Signing with PBS Chef Ming Tsai at Milestone Culinary Arts Center

Chef Ming Tsai

Chef Ming Tsai — James Beard Award winner, Emmy-winning host of Simply Ming, and competitor on this season’s The Next Iron Chef — will be on hand to sign his new book, Simply Ming One-Pot Meals at Milestone Culinary Arts Center on McKinney on Nov. 10 at 6:30 pm.

The evening will run you $75/person for which you will get to:

  • watch Ming prepare Mom’s Famous Vinegared Shrimp
  • enjoy a buffet featuring dishes (and techniques) from the new book
  • walk away with an autographed copy of Simply Ming One-Pot Meals

Jump for the menu… Continue reading "Book Signing with PBS Chef Ming Tsai at Milestone Culinary Arts Center"

Reading About Food: MFK Fisher

fisherI’m sure most of you have read a lot of books about food. (Hi Ruthie, nice tweets!) Lately most of the ones I’ve read have been about the dark side of dining—I just finished Food, Inc., the newest in a line of reports on food poisoning, labor and animal abuse, the industrialization of our food supply, and world hunger. So I was delighted when I opened my mail this morning to find the copy of An Alphabet for Gourmets I’d ordered. It’s been over twenty years since I first read MFK Fisher’s 26 sensuous chapters devoted to some of her long-time obsessions (potato chips, macadamia, and caviar) and is full of quirky and eccentric essays on culinary traditions. If you’ve never read one of Fisher’s books—and there are many–you should. Here’s a little sample.

2 Comments »

Test Kitchen: Tre Wilcox’s Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp with Cheese Grits and Chipotle-Tomato Butter Sauce

10_topchefcookbook_lglSo, let me admit upfront: I love cookbooks more than cooking. My library is lousy with them and, though I often entertain the notion of cooking a four-course meal from scratch, I’m more in love with the romance than the reality. In other words, takeout rules in the Johnson household. That’s what makes this new SideDish feature—Test Kitchen—such a delicious challenge. I’ll dust off a local cookbook or published recipe, attempt to prepare it (please note the word “attempt”), and blog the results plus a photo of the finished product. You, dear SideDishers, get to discover which local recipes are winners and losers. I, your foolish amateur chef, get to sharpen my knife skills while documenting my culinary shortcomings for the blogosphere to read. So, see? It’s a win-win. For my inaugural outing, I tackled Top Chef season three contestant and local fave Tre Wilcox (formerly of Abacus) and his episode seven winning bacon-wrapped shrimp with cheese grits and chipotle-tomato butter sauce. It’s from Top Chef: The Cookbook and I have a new respect for sauciers after this back breaker.

Continue reading "Test Kitchen: Tre Wilcox’s Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp with Cheese Grits and Chipotle-Tomato Butter Sauce"

6 Comments »

Which Local Cookbook Is Your Fave?

ac0c224b9da05343e2abb010l_aa240_True confession: I’m a cookbook addict. Love them. Do I use them all? Of course not. (Yes, I’m looking at you The French Laundry Cookbook with your 48-step recipes and prep work that alone requires three days.) But over the weekend, I cracked open the Dallas Museum of Art League’s The Artful Table—a favorite of mine—and made chilled Senegalese soup, a fragrant blend of curry, cayene, chicken, apples, and plenty of half & half. It reminded me of other local favorites like Paula Lambert’s The Cheese Lover’s Cookbook and Grady Spears’ The Texas Cowboy Kitchen (roasted poblano mac-n-cheese = OMG good). So, I thought I’d ask you: SideDishers, what are your favorite local cookbooks?

17 Comments »

Bar Belmont Readies For Fun

Gotta love this headline:  “A strictly-for-fun gathering of one smart-mouthed fiction writer and one lucky guitar, trading stories and songs.”
Sounds like a great time and it’s happening on Thursday, Feb. 12 from 6:30-8:30 at the Bar Belmont. Singer/songwriter Trish Murphy (left)will join Dallas-based author Melanie Wells (right) for a night of songs, stories, and hand-made sweets. Very cool. Admission is free.  877-476-3378 for more information.

SideDish Book Club: Milk

If you were a fan of Omnivore’s Dilemma or Guns, Germs, and Steel, you’ll like Anne Mendelson’s Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages. I’m about a third through the book, and it’s extremely detailed (almost textbook style,) but still a good read. (Ever heard of Swill Milk? Ugh.)

Pickup a copy and read it while enjoying some cheese from Scardello, drinking kefir, and cooking and up some matar paneer.

The book is also part recipe, although Mendelson calls almost exclusively for unhomogenized milk (notice the cream line on the cover)—something that I’ve never noticed in any of our local markets. Anyone have a source?

3 Comments »