Nancy Ancrum is the co-founder of Curated Dining and the co-host of Join Us at the Table, a weekly conversation about food and the people who create it that's heard from 8 to 9 a.m. Saturdays on WMCU-AM 1080 (joinusatthetable.com. She is a member of Slow Food and the American Institute of Wine and Food. Her philosophy: The more we know about the foods we eat, the more we know about ourselves and each other. In addition to writing a biweekly column for The Miami Herald's Food & Dining section, she is a member of the newspaper's editorial board.
E-mail her at nancrum@miamiherald.com.
Jean Sebastien Bailly has thrown his whisk into the ring, adding The Boutique Kitchen to what is becoming Biscayne Boulevard's Restaurant Row. Construction-free at last, the stretch between 54th and 79th streets boasts a wine bar, sushi bars, several cafes, a high-end eatery and a classy little hot-dog joint.
MAIN DISH ROASTED PULLED CHICKEN SALAD WITH TARRAGON AND GOLDEN RAISINS Jean Sebastien Bailly likes to serve this lively salad in sandwiches or on salad greens at The Boutique Kitchen.
CULTURAL KITCHEN
There's love and there's CakeLove, and Warren Brown has been lucky enough to find both. It would be oh-so-precious to say the lawyer turned baker, entrepreneur and Food Network host (Sugar Rush) will be baking the cake for his October wedding. He won't, but bakers from his growing empire of bakeries will.
DESSERT CHOCOLATE NO-MIXER CAKE Most of the recipes in Warren Brown's book are complex and required a careful reading before baking. This simple cake is a delicious exception. He prefers weighing rather than measuring dry ingredients, but the latter worked fine for us.
CULTURAL KITCHEN
Most times, a brownie is just a brownie. But the Do-Goodie Brownie from Greyston Bakery, based in Yonkers, N.Y., is a square of sweetness that its producers are using to do a world of good.
DESSERT GLORIOUS GOLDIES Also called blondies, these delicious bars date back to when Greyston Bakery opened in 1982. ¾ cup lightly salted butter, at room temperature
CULTURAL KITCHEN
For chef Gillian Clark, cooking is love. It means the family is safe and sustained. But it also meant that when her daughter climbed the jungle gym at school, her hands greasy from the delicious cube-steak sandwich Mom had packed, she slipped and broke her arm.
DESSERT COLORADO CHEESECAKE There's no crust -- how easy is that? Butter, flour for pan 8 ounces cream cheese 6 ounces ricotta Juice, grated zest of 1 lemon
THE CULTURAL KITCHEN
American Beach, on Amelia Island just north of Jacksonville, was an oceanfront playground during the first, segregated half of the last century where African Americans could frolic at the shore, eat at fine restaurants and, most important, own a bit of paradise. But it was so much more.
MAIN DISH SHRIMP PURLO Kick up the heat and flavor of this easy one-pot meal by adding seafood seasonings or garam marsala. Despite the long cooking time, the shrimp comes out tender.
CULTURAL KITCHEN
Never underestimate America's desire for yet another chocolate-chip cookie. There was a near riot one recent Saturday as shoppers at a vendors' market at Aventura Mall clamored for Hamilton Handy's soft-inside, crisp-outside, chocolate-chunk delights, at $1.50 apiece.
COOKIES OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES Hamilton Handy's cookies are not too sweet and have great chew. 1 ½ cups of unbleached, all-purpose flour
THE CULTURAL KITCHEN
''I was a foodie from way back,'' says Jennifer English, a purveyor of fine spices who has added the multilayered flavors of Africa to her impressive inventory.
SPICE BLEND BERBERE Add this to soups, stews or gravies -- or use it as a dry rub for meats and fish. teaspoon fenugreek seeds ½ cup ground dried Serrano or other dried chile
THE CULTURAL KITCHEN
George Washington Carver's name, no doubt, will be mentioned in classrooms more over the next 28 days than in the 11 months that follow. Black History Month is upon us, a time to look back, as the name implies -- to people such as Carver, for one, an agricultural chemist whose research fueled a farming resurgence in the South.
MAIN DISH CORN, SCALLION AND POTATO FRITTATA Here's a traditional Spanish dish with an all-American addition of corn. 1 bunch scallions, white and green parts sliced separately
CULTURAL KITCHEN
Google ''black-eyed peas,'' and you'll be lucky to find even a couple of food references on the first two pages. Black-Eyed Peas, the hip-hop band, apparently rules these days.
SOUP CURRIED BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP 5 bacon slices, coarsely chopped 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced crosswise
