Artisan Chocolatier Launches Book and Boutique

Artisan chocolatier Bethany Thouin loves her chocolate, and she loves her friends. With the help of co-author Angela Fox, she weaved those elements together into Chocolate Covered Friendship. The tiny book, dotted with chocolatey anecdotes, Biblical scripture, poetry and a handful of recipes, was released this fall, just as Thouin is relocating her boutique, The Cocoa Tree, from Franklin to Germantown.

More of an inspirational stocking-stuffer than a culinary manual, Chocolate Covered Friendship is primarily an ode to Thouin's friends and the flavor combinations they inspire in the line of truffles by Bethany:Chocolatier. For example, Thouin's sister Sarah “is a constant source of spiritual nourishment.” For her, Thouin created a Frangelico truffle with toasted hazelnuts for nourishment, hazelnut liqueur that is strong and flavorful and milk chocolate for her sweet devotion.

For her ex-assistant Crystal, Thouin makes a truffle flavored with coriander (a calming spice) and shredded coconut (which reminds her of Crystal's messy habits). For her tenacious-and-sweet friend Renee, there's chili pepper and milk chocolate. For her tall-tale-telling pal Kelly, there's a coffee-flavored truffle. “Just like Kelly,” Thouin writes, “the dark chocolate in this truffle gives me a swift kick in the pants and says 'Get up and at 'em!' ”

Ah, my dear Bites friends, I should like to make truffles for you all, to express in most delicious and metaphorical terms the complex combinations that are your personalities. Mr. Pink, you are so loyal and intelligent, I would infuse your truffle with the salty dust of zesty taco and chipotle ranch flavored Doritos. And Fluffernutter, with your keen wit and tireless curiosity, I would make for you a chocolate of andouille and chai....

Come to think of it, maybe this is a job for Bethany:Chocolatier at The Cocoa Tree, which opens Nov. 22 at 1200 5th Ave. N. (See coupon below for a free truffle.)

If you could ask Bethany to make a truffle for you, what flavors would it be?

Give the Newest Book from the Original Blogger

Reading about food is nearly as good as making it, because the experience is equally enjoyable, but lacking the work and calories. So cookbooks could arguably be the perfect gift. And there's a book I think you'll like giving, or getting, for the holiday.
Ordering soon is probably a good idea, as you'll read.

John Thorne was, in a sense, the first food blogger. His life in small-town Maine, detailed kitchen experiments and near-erotic appetites have made his long-running food newsletter, Simple Cooking and the offshoots such as Lagniappe cult reading since the late 1980s. His material, you would think, would translate perfectly to the Internet. It does, as you can see at outlawcook.com, but since Thorne and his wife Matt run the whole publishing enterprise including book sales, his blogging (in fact, everything about the Simple Cooking brand) is sporadic and quirky, though ultimately worth waiting for.

Cheatin' Butt

It’s a brave stance in Tennessee to assert that good barbecue is perfectly possible without woodsmoke and slow fire. But Nashvillians Mindy Merrell and R.B. Quinn spent months developing “indoor” barbecue using liquid smoke flavoring and the oven, stovetop and slow cooker. Their results were compiled in a newly released book, Cheater BBQ: BBQ Anytime, Anywhere, in Any Weather.

Curious? You’re not alone: no less a barbecue aficionado than Mr. Pink was seen flipping the pages of the book.

Merrell says the book is about “barbecue diversity,” and promises that her flagship recipe, a pork barbecue made with dry rub and liquid smoke, “is the best smoked pork and no one can tell!”

Still skeptical? The proof will be in the eating, which you can do at their cooking stage appearance on the Southern Festival of Books' final day, 3 p.m. Sunday. A great time to visit the festival: parking is easier, crowds are smaller, and, most critically for the barbecue connoisseur, there’s less competition for samples.

Carrington's Holiday Wish List (WARNING: May Contain Nuts)

Not a day goes by without someone asking me, "What do I get Carrington Fox for the holidays?" Well she didn't want me to say anything, but this is at the top of her wish list. Titled The Testicle Cookbook: Cooking With Balls, the e-book from digital online publisher YUDU highlights recipes from Serbian chef Ljubomir Erovic featuring nads of all stripes—stallions, ostriches (mmmm!), bulls, pigs and turkeys.

It's no secret that Carrington has long been an aficionado of Serbian cuisine, not to mention she's the ballsiest food critic in town. So why not make her happy this holiday season? If any of you are thinking of preparing a dish for Foxy, keep in mind that her family has some Jewish roots on hubby's side, so you may want to stay away from the pig balls.

By the way, you can see sample pages from the book here. Recipes include instructions such as, "Wash the testicles thoroughly for 30-45 minutes," a credo Jim Ridley swears by—and he's not even cooking them.

The best part may be the dedication: "To my parents and grandmother Ruza Macic for introducing me to the delicious world of testicles, even if they did lie about it!" Sounds like testimony from a Department of Children's Services investigation.

And for those of you who are fluent in Serbian, here's a delicious recipe for testicle pizza.

Recipes with Game

If you think an official NFL cookbook is a bunch of recipes for turkey legs, then you haven't seen The Sunday Night Football Cookbook. A fund-raiser for the hunger-relief charity Taste of the NFL, the book retails for $27.95 and contains 150 recipes from players, culinary luminaries including Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay, and chefs from across the country.

Randy Rayburn Restaurants, perennial supporters of Taste of the NFL, kicked in recipes from Sunset Grill chef Dustin Pritchett, who contributed pork belly with collard green risotto, feta and pickled okra, and Brian Uhl—executive chef of Sunset Grill, Cabana and Midtown Cafe—who offered mac-and-cheese with lobster and brie and buttermilk panna cotta with balsamic macerated strawberries.

The Titans made it onto the menu board with punter Craig Hentrich's chicken Marbella—a gorgeous roasted medley of chicken, prunes, capers and olives, which, like Carrington Fox's chicken Marbella, comes from The Silver Palate Cookbook. I salute your good taste, No. 15. Now can you please tell me how to cook a turkey leg?

This One Goes To 900 Degrees

Like Spinal Tap axeman Nigel Tufnel and his guitars, Nashville barbecuer Catherine Mayhew loves each of her six grills for a different reason. The Weber BabyQ is good for tabletop grilling. She loves Smoky Mountain smokers so much that she owns two. The Char-Broil Professional was bought for testing the recipes in her barbecue book, Handy Mom’s Guide: Grilling (Cool Springs Press).

Mayhew, who put in time in the newsrooms of several local news organizations, fired up the grill every day for months to prepare and test everything from Pepper Jelly Cream Cheese Crostini to Asian Chicken Salad, her favorite recipe in the book. “It tastes just like the salad at Nick of Thyme,” she says of the late, lamented Brentwood cafe/deli/takeout.

A Kansas City Barbecue Society certified master judge, Mayhew knows her way around a slab of pork. (Or beef or salmon.) She also belongs to a competition team, Chicks in Charge.

You’d expect her grill collection to include one that goes to 11, and that would describe The Big Green Egg. She says it "goes from 250 for smoking to 900 degrees or higher...the ceramic holds in moisture. Everything done in it is delicious.”

The book is available at Borders and Davis-Kidd, and also on amazon.com. Check Bites again Thursday for Mayhew’s technique for testing grilled meat for doneness.