Garlic has got to be one of the most widely used ingredients in the world. In cuisines across the globe, garlic lends itself as a go-to flavor enhancer for various dishes. Its pungent and spicy profile seems to make just about everything taste better.

Ok, you garlic lover, you. Want to try a different version of garlic? One that’s sweet and savory at the same time? Try black garlic. This stuff is wonderfully different—soft, sweet (like molasses), chewy, sticky, savory and fruity. This is a specialty that’s commonly found in Asian cuisine, created by taking bulbs of garlic and cooking them at a temperature of 140 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit in a humid environment from anywhere from two weeks to a month or so. The final product comes out to look like garlic but with a dark brown to black color.

So, how do you eat it? This Huffington Post article’s got some great recipes to get you started: How To Cook With Black Garlic, Which Isn’t What You Think It Is

Check out the video below for the recipe:

Some kitchen gadgets only serve one purpose—an avocado slicer, can opener, a coffee maker. Well, actually, the French press can do more than make great coffee. Instead of indulging some mimosas this Sunday during your brunch, you can try a hot toddy, à la your new multi-purpose French press.

 

At Moneygun in Chicago, mixologists are serving up signature hot toddies using French presses. If you’re unfamiliar, a hot toddy (hot Whiskey in Ireland) is a warm cocktail, typically made of liquor, hot water, honey, and spices. Utilizing the French press like a tea pot makes it easy to create your own unique hot toddy and can elevate your breakfast or brunch experience.

 

Get the Moneygun Hot Toddy recipe here.

There are just some foods that always stay at the top of our “comfort food” list. Yes, we’re talking about cheese–it can be warm, it can be cold, sweet or savory, yet always delicious in all forms. It is quite hard to find those who dislike this versatile, delicious ingredient.

While comfort dishes like mac’ and cheese, grilled cheese and pizza often come to mind when thinking of crave-worthy meals where cheese is prominent, we wanted to share the spotlight with others that may not be so well known. So cheese-lovers, without further ado, try out the cheesy and scrumptious dishes below:

 

1. Beer cheese- is this the next ultimate bar snack? If you haven’t heard of it, beer cheese does sound a bit peculiar (or extremely delicious?). Actually, there are two kinds—beer cheese dip and beer cheese spread. Right now we’re loving beer cheese dip. A dip that’s made of cheese, beer, mustard and your choice of seasonings. Pretzels, chips, bread—all fair game for dipping! Get the recipe.

2. Queso flameado- “flamed cheese” is the translation for this awesome dish (aka “queso fundido” and “choriqueso”). It’s cheese. It’s chorizo. It’s flambéed (or broiled). And it’s absolutely delightful! Get the recipe.

3. Korean corn cheese – simple but so tasty. Often found at Korean restaurants (think fried chicken, or BBQ joints), corn cheese is a side dish concocted of cheese (like mozzarella), corn kernels, mayonnaise, seasonings and herbs, baked to bubbly perfection. Get the recipe.

4. Paneer pasanda- This Indian dish consists of paneer (fresh cheese) slices in savory and smooth, aromatic tomato, onion and cashew paste curry gravy.  Get the recipe.

First it was chipotle. Then sriracha. And now it seems one of the most popular flavors to shake up the culinary game is the smoky flavor. All over, we’re seeing the addition of smoky tastes in food and beverages alike.

 

While smoking may be out of style as a fad for people, smoking for food is the new big thing. More and more restaurants are investing in smokers for cured meats, fish, and even vegetables and cheeses. As every chef works hard to top the last groundbreaking offering, the biggest blast of smoky excitement is coming in the form of garnishes.

 

Scorched herbs are the newest hipster food fad, and this trend seems to be one that will stick around. This food trend can be pinned to the greater demand for farm-to-table cuisine with fresher, locally cultivated produce and meats being the center of focus. In an effort to keep to the earthy boldness that today’s menus are now brimming with, chefs have turned to slightly scorching herbs as a way to add another element to their creations.

 

The aroma created from adding a bit of char to a sprig of rosemary for example is astounding. It adds another layer of flavor to the dish that takes it to a whole new echelon. As a bonus, it also looks beautiful and add a natural, woodsy charm to the dish.

 

Thyme is another one that is becoming a popular scorched garnish. The deep and earthy scent that comes from charring herbs like these evokes warm images in the mind and spirit. It helps connect guests with their food more and gives it more of a flair without adding extra seasonings or calories.

 

To add scorch to herbs, you can simply toast them in your oven for a good seven minutes to dry them out. If you have a blow torch, this works more quickly to add that extra smoky flavor to your concoctions. Easy does it though because it’s one thing to have a smoldering garnish. It’s quite another to serve one that is completely aflame.

 

When you dine out next, you’re likely to see this scorching technique applied to many of the traditional dishes you’re used to. A rack of lamb with rosemary is always a top-selling dish. However, when you add that smoky scorched technique to the rosemary, it makes the dish more primal without turning it into a primitive meal. So while smoking cigarettes is decidedly uncool, smoking herbs to a light scorch is where it’s at in the culinary world today.

With the “plant-based” movement picking up steam, restaurant operators looking to set their menus apart or create meatless (or nearly) signatures are wondering: What’s the next Brussels sprout? What are some techniques for tofu? And can anything topple the reign of quinoa?

Going with the Grain

If it seems like quinoa went from 0 to 60 in about four menu cycles flat, you’re right, but there are many other grains to explore for their hearty flavor, interesting texture and healthy nutritional profile.

• Teff – A tiny grain that has been a staple of traditional Ethiopian cooking for thousands of years, with a mild, nutty flavor and a delicate texture
• Exotic Rices – Including pecan rice, forbidden black rice, red rice and brown basmati rice
• Spelt – This dense, chewy wheat is a primitive relative of common wheat, and can be much easier to digest. Kamut and wheat berries are similar
• Freekeh – Not a separate grain variety, but a method of processing young wheat to produce a nutty, almost smoky-tasting result
• Amaranth – Once a staple of the Aztecs, the seeds can be cooked like a grain to yield a sweet, delicately nutty flavor and slightly sticky texture

 

Check Your Pulse(s)

It’s the Year of the Pulse, proclaims the United Nations’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), celebrating that versatility category of foods that includes beans, lentils, peas, peanuts and other legumes. While the FAO concerns itself with the usefulness of pulses for things emergency food supplies and crop rotation, there are sorts of tasty things to do with them.

• Heirloom beans such as Jacob’s Ladder and Anasazi
• Chickpeas, including fresh
• Edamame (the Japanese name for immature soybeans in the pod),
• Indian dishes like lentil dal
• Global rice-and-bean specialties (West Indian rice and pigeon peas, “Moors and Christians,” which are Spanish-style black beans and rice)

 

Serve Your Fruits and Veggies

It’s never been a better time to love fruits and vegetables, as produce moves to the center-of-the-plate in small plates, appetizers, entrees, shareable sides and refreshing desserts. Vegetables, particularly served in season and even micro-season, are versatile challenges to the kitchen’s creativity, and they’re even migrating to the dessert, while fruits are being used in savory ways to bring juiciness and bright acidity to the right side of the menu.

 

 

• Whole roasted or rotisseried cauliflower, served for the table
• New uses for citrus: grapefruit in salads, zest in vinaigrettes, roasted oranges
• Bitter greens beyond kale: collards, mustard, broccoli raab
• Elevated basics: heirloom carrots, charred onions, green garlic
• Fingerling and varietal potatoes
• Squashes such as red kuri, kabocha, spaghetti squash
• House-dried fruits, fruit leathers
• Pomegranates, acai and other “superfruits”
• Vegetable “charcuterie” (carrot confit, crudite, fennel salad)
• The return of the artichoke
• Fresh figs
• Varietal lettuces: Little Gem, butter lettuce, dandelions
• Cooking techniques like charring, braising, roasting, smoking and searing

 

Plants are the New Meats

Products like veggie burgers, tofu and soy bacon used to be weak imitations of the real thing, but now they’re coming into their own as delicious plant-based proteins in their own right.

• Tofu in more interesting guises: marinated, seared, stir-fried and smoked
• Seitan (wheat gluten) and tempeh (cultured soy)
• Portobello and other mushrooms
• Cauliflower and eggplant “steaks”
• Creative meatless burgers made with mixtures of grains, beans, nuts and lots of flavor
• Cooked, seasoned jackfruit, which can be used like pulled pork

There was a time when the restaurant industry could pretty much count on success by following Ray Kroc’s mantra: Provide QSCV (Quality, Service, Cleanliness, and Value) to the customer. But the world’s gotten a whole lot more complicated since McDonald’s was the defining restaurant brand.

 

For today’s customers, QSCV is a given; so are qualities like inviting décor, menu customization and a positive overall experience. In fact, it could be argued that nowadays customers also expect brands to do good. Whether that means sustainability initiatives like responsible sourcing and reducing environmental impact, or making a commitment to giving back to the local community, it all points toward a more ethical, conscientious and transparent way of doing business.

 

Proponents of what’s come to be known as CSR, or corporate social responsibility, believe that their success is only possible through a commitment to all stakeholders, including not only their customers but also their suppliers, their employees and the community at large. And according to numerous studies, consumers are looking for the same thing: In the United States, says a 2014 study by Nielsen, 42% of consumers prefer to do business with brands that are committed to positive social and environmental impact.

 

Many of Synergy’s clients are already on board with this trend. LYFE Kitchen offers more than just healthy, flavorful fast-casual food; it means having a Sixth Sense, making a commitment “to look out for the well-being of our customers, our employees and our communities” in the words of its founders. Burgerville is also known by the company it keeps, partnering with local farms and businesses that share the concept’s commitment to quality food and regional vitality. Ignite Bistro & Wine Bar set an intention for a new menu that would offer “fresh, approachable and sustainable food that has a local connection and means something to…the locals, the community, and the people who have made us love being in Carlsbad.”

 

Now, after 28 years in business, Synergy Restaurant Consultants is ready to give back to its community in a significant way. Synergy Managing Partners Dean Small and Danny Bendas both met while studying at the Culinary Institute of America, which opened many doors to them as they began pursuing their restaurant industry careers.

 

“The CIA gave me and Danny the foundation and confidence to pursue our dreams and help others along the way,” says Small. “We have always wanted to make a difference in this amazing industry and to create new opportunities for others to evolve.”

 

To that end, Synergy is working with the CIA to establish a five-year, $50,000 fund that will provide a series of scholarships within the school’s new “Intrapreneurship” degree concentration. Launched in 2015, the concentration is designed to provide students with the financial literacy and resources to innovate, create, learn how to run a business and overcome adversity in a real-word setting, according to the CIA.

 

The Synergy Restaurant Consultants fund will provide four $2,500 scholarships per year for the next five years to students within the program, and will also establish the Synergy team as mentors in both formal and informal ways to student entrepreneurs.

 

“Contributing to the advancement of the entrepreneurial-based CIA program is a very exciting step for us, because entrepreneurship is deeply rooted in our own company DNA,” explains Dean Small. “We have always embraced the entrepreneurial spirit of operators throughout the world who have put it all on the line to build something they are proud of, and now the scholarship fund brings that full circle for Synergy.”