Browsing Category

The Uncommon Life

The Uncommon Life

V’reens or Verrines?

September 9, 2010

This French style of cuisine is growing popular among foodies for its ability to bring out not just the taste, but also the texture and color of your ingredients.

What is a verrine? Verrines are layered dishes. Rather than blending or stewing or mixing or baking, when you make a verrine, you layer up all the ingredients.  Verrines give each layer its time to shine, by putting it on display in a special glass.

Last month, Kevin Weeks from NPR did a great piece on the art, science and history of preparing verrines (or v’reens).

A verrine can be an appetizer, an amuse-bouche, a salad, a side dish, a dessert (the most common application) and, I suppose, even a complete meal, with the right combination of ingredients and the right sort of glass.

Verrines are clearly linked to the parfait, a soda-fountain treat popularized in the middle of the last century, as well as other layered dishes, such as the Cobb salad and the English trifle. Verrines, however, are individualized, with a single serving in each glass and yet as carefully arranged as the famous seven-layer salad of Super Bowl Sunday fame.

You might combine — from the bottom up — something green (peas) with something brown (mushroom duxelles) with something golden (sauteed onions) with something white (pureed potatoes). This arrangement also layers — from the bottom up — textures such as slightly mushy peas, grainy duxelles, crunchy onions and silky-smooth potatoes. Each layer provides its own flavors, and all of the flavors, tasted in turn and in combination, bring their own brilliance to the assemblage.

I’m convinced v’reens might be the perfect party dish. They look so complicated, so intricately prepared. But in truth, many verrine recipes are quite simple. Try one the next time you’re headed to a potluck or dinner party. I bet your friends will be oh-la-la-ing over your v’reen creation.

The Uncommon Life

International Foods Week: A Tasty Tagine

September 8, 2010
tagine

I was excited when I was asked to give one of our latest products, the ceramic tagine, a trial run.  As someone who enjoys cooking, I’ve always been intrigued by the tagine, but didn’t know too much about it. All I know is that it had a conical top (not sure why) and that it is a really beautiful piece.

Before deciding what to make, I did a little online research about the tagine.  The tagine is the name of the vessel and the name of the food dish you prepare – think “I made a casserole in the casserole.” Turns out, the cone is designed to encourage any steam to come back down into the food to keep it moist – perfect for braising. I was also looking for recipes for vegetarian tagines and saw a similar pattern – lots of veggies, layered in the bottom of the tagine, add spices, oil, liquid – then cook.  Not too complicated.

I decided since it is the best time of year to buy local produce at the market that I would just go and get whatever veggies look the best.  I ended up with tomatoes, okra, eggplant, potatoes, onions, red peppers and zucchini.

tagine

When I was ready to begin cooking, Continue Reading…

The Uncommon Life

International Foods Week: Tasty treats? Czech!

September 7, 2010

This week on the blog we are talking about international foods. Today’s destination? The Czech Republic!

The Czech Republic’s beautiful town of Karlovy Vary is famous for many things, including Wine Wafers – delicious, crispy cookies meant to accompany your favorite wine.  Wine Wafers go as far back as 1640, when they were introduced as a treat for the nobles and visiting upper-class.

The great thing about wine wafers is not only are they a fun, tasty and unique treat to enjoy with wine, but you can also use them to make super easy and delicious cafe and wine bar desserts. So pour yourself a big glass of wine, grab some wine wafers and let’s begin!

Celebration Torte

wine wafers

12 oz. of mixed berries
32 oz. cool whip
24 oz. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
6 Lemon-Vanilla Wine Wafers

Mix half of sour cream with cool whip, add more sour cream to taste.  Spread 3 tablespoons Continue Reading…

The Uncommon Life

International Flavor: No Passport Required

September 6, 2010

To kick things off for International Foods Week, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite kitchen tools, tasty treats and uncommon knowledge that celebrate cuisine from every corner of the globe. Stay tuned the rest of the week for yummy international recipes.

What’s your favorite foreign food? Share in the comments below!

International Foods Week

From top left: Tagine, $60. Molinillo, $15. Wine Wafers, $10. Pizza Slicer, $36. Bamboo Serving Tray, $50. V’reens Appetizer & Dessert Tray, $50.

The Uncommon Life

Gift Lab #11: Mindy leaves ’em High & Dry

August 4, 2010

ETA August 2, 2011: Please note, this item is no longer available. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you’re interested in sink accessories, you may also like the Sink Drainer Cutting Board or Spongster.


high and dry dishrack

1) Product Name: High and Dry Dish Rack by Dan Black and Martin Blum.

high and dry dish rack

2) Background Research: I’m a victim of the classic New York apartment sob story: my kitchen is so small, I can barely do anything! With a corner sink – and an awkward space next to it – I’ve had a dish rack dilemma Continue Reading…

The Uncommon Life

Happy Inventors Month!

August 2, 2010


August is National Inventor’s Month!

Here at UncommonGoods, we have always valued the “Aha!” moments, the midnight brainstorms and the people who see everyday problems as opportunities to make daily life a little bit better. And so to celebrate all those inventors, designers and dreamers, we are planning a month-long celebration on our blog with posts about Uncommon Designers and Inventors, cool green inventions, giveaways and updates on our latest YouGoods contest.

Happy Inventors Month, everyone!

The Uncommon Life

UncommonGoods Scavenger Hunt #2

July 30, 2010
scavenger hunt_2

It’s 2 pm on Friday, and you know what that means…time for the UncommonGoods Scavenger Hunt! Woot!

Here’s how it works:

The above image is a cropped photo of something that we sell, and it’s your job to figure out what it is! Clues will be given out every 10-15 minutes on Twitter and right here at this blog post. Contestants will troll our website looking for the mystery item. The first person to write the correct answer in the comments below wins a $25 gift certificate to UncommonGoods! Be sure to include your Twitter handle if you have it. And when leaving a comment – leave your email address (it won’t publish – but we need it to contact you!)

Tune into Twitter or this post for clues! Good luck!

Clue #1
I am from Southeast Asia.