momeld - modern living | modern design

BBQ Tray by D-vision is designed to collect the often messy pre-cooked and post-grilled juices. You have to hand it to them - it’s quite a mundane problem they’ve cleverly solved. And isn’t that what good product design is all about.

+ via: Play Me Design

Become a Locavore and produce your own food at home with Local River. Conceived by Mathieu Lehanneur, Local River is a conceptual “aquarium-refrigerator” where one can breed his/her own fish and grow vegetables simultaneously.

Vegetables in the floating pots help purify the water by removing nitrates and other minerals - which in turn nourishes the plants. In this way, the plants and fish become interdependent in this man-made eco-system.

For those in NYC, this concept will be presented at the Artists Space Gallery starting 25 April. Via MoCo Loco.

+ What is a Locavore?
+ More about the designer Mathieu Lehanneur

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How would you like to have a different flavor of chocolate every week? From Basil to Black Pepper, 100% Coffe Cafe serves up 56 varities of your favorite indulgence. Better sign up for the gym!

via: Ruebenmiller , 2 modern

Japanese designer, Nobuhiko Arikawa of Rice Design has created edible tableware for Orto Cafe in Japan. (note: the links are in Japanese)

These guys are actually made of a hard biscuit dough made from flour, salt, and water. The mixture is easy to dry pack and it stays edible for a long time as it was once used as a ration at sea. The plates remind me of Injera which is a bread used as a plate and side for Ethiopian food.

{via: dezeen}

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Todays taste is inspired by my wanting spring to arrive. Vietnamese rice paper rolls are one of the freshest tastes out there. Similar to a egg roll or spring roll, they can be filled with a variety of things. Most popular is shrimp with sprouts, lettuce, jicama, cucumber and pepper. My personal favorite rolls include mint, basil and cilantro which adds to the fresh flavor. They are usually served with a sweet/ spicy peanut sauce which compliments the fresh ingredients of the roll nicely.

+ recipe

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Today’s taste focuses on a crisp treat that is great on a salad, in a sandwich, for breakfast, or as a stand alone snack. Introducing . . . the RADISH[es]. I love the variety they come in.

(left to right)

1. The red radish_ the traditional salad radish, but it can also be great cooked (making it less bitter)

2. Long Scarlet radish_ a crisp, mild, rich radish famous in Italy

3. Diakon radish_ A large juicy yet mild radish popular in the orient

4. Watermelon radish_ this one is beautiful when cut open. It is similar to the red radish but without as much bite. It cooks very well and can even be mashed like potatoes.

5. Japanese Long Scarlet_ beautiful color, long, thin, and great for pickling

6. D’Avignon_ the French eat these for breakfast

7. Easter Egg radishes_ a variation on the red that come in multiple shades

8. Horseradish_ our bitter friend that adds a little zing to our meats and sandwiches

{via: delicious organics}

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Today’s taste is something I ran across a few years ago on a trip to the beach. A group of us went deep sea finishing and one of my friends decided to make us a treat, ceviche. Although I may have had the dish before in a Latin American restaurant, I certainly did not realize that it was “cooked” by citrus. There is no heat used in the process; instead, the citrus juices cause the proteins to become denatured which pickles and cooks the fish.  This process can be used on shellfish and shrimp as well and can be served a variety of ways.  The taste is refreshing and lite. The denaturing process changes the texture so if you don’t usually like uncooked fish you may like ceviche.

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Today’s taste is a treat that I dream about, soup dumplings. My experience with these little guys came later in life than I would have liked. No soup dumplings are not just dumplings floating in some broth; the soup is on the inside! The dumpling is soft and perfectly steamed usually with a meat or seafood filling that is similar to the one found in gyoza. The art of eating these has to be perfected as the juice can gush at first bite. It is a balancing act of placing the dumpling on a soup spoon and lifting with chop sticks. These little guys can be tricky to find but any city with a china town ought to have them. One of the most famous places in New York to find them is Joe’s Shanghai. It is worth the hunt; they will leave you warm on the inside and wondering just how they got the soup in there.

On a side note I once tried to make these from scratch and failed miserably. I would have never guessed it but you turn the stock into a gelatin that way you can wrap in the dumpling as a solid. My problem was that the gelatin never melted and there were strange jello chunks inside. It was a disaster but I had so much fun trying so here are some links to recipes: epicurious

So, Fat Tuesday has come and gone but king cake can still be had by all. This year I received the baby and must pass on the joy of this cream and cinnamon filled pastry to others. A small plastic baby is hidden in the cake and as tradition the receiver of the baby must pass on the king cake with another party and another cake. This pastry symbolizes the season of Mardi Gras. Cake parties begin the 12th day after Christmas and don’t stop until Fat Tuesday, the official day of Mardi Gras. The celebration occurs throughout the world; perhaps, none appreciate it more than the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The celebration in New Orleans is a must see and contrary to popular belief the parades are very family oriented.

The best King Cake, as I and many tried and true southerns will attest, can be found at Paul’s Pastry out of Picayune, Mississippi. view map

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Vietnamese soups are great this time of year as they are hot and filling yet not too heavy. The springy mix of cilantro, basil, sprouts, green onions and other greens gives a hint of spring which leaves me hopeful for warmer weather.

Pho is a ginger beef soup with rice noodles that is very aromatic. A popular tradition is cracking a raw egg over the mixture; the piping hot liquid cooks it slightly . . . I haven’t seen that in a restaurant in a while. The bowls are often diner plate size so it can be romantic to share a bowl; plus I can never finish it all. Perhaps the best part of grabbing a bowl at your local Vietnamese restaurant is all the special sauces and extra spicy stuff you can add to make the flavor your own.

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