 Many of you may remember the author of this cookbook as a contestant in the fourth season of Top Chef. Much loved by viewers during his run at the title, it’s no wonder Spike Mendelsohn is back to treat us to more of his cooking insights. Taking a moment off from his D.C. restaurant Good Stuff Eatery he whips up his first cookbook called “The Good Stuff.” Spike brings us his take on the burger and some of its favorite cohorts. At first you may find yourself thinking, the burger? Really? How safe can you get? But think again my friends. What could be more challenging to reinvent then an American favorite? Can you think of one person amongst your friends who has never had some form of this tasty dish? I certainly can’t. Still I approached this cookbook review with a cautious eye after all it was a cookbook on burgers, which are made in almost every fast food chain in under five minutes. As soon as I cracked open the cover with Spike’s earnest and endearing face on it (No really take a look! Three of the people remarked on how sweet he looked) I gave the table of contents a once over and was pleased to see that there was something for everyone. The dishes ranged from sides to salads to shakes, desserts and drinks and of course burgers! And there was a vegetarian option or two in each of the categories as well as a few other alternatives, my favorite being the mac’ and cheese with bacon!  Boy did they smell good while cooking! True to the titles promise, we get to the good stuff. Out of the recipes my friends and I tried our favorite was the turkey burger. Sour, Spicy and hearty this recipe chased away all of my fears of a turkey burger lacking in flavor. With green apples, Chipotles, chutney and avocado this is certainly one of the most unique and scrumptious burger recipes I’ve ever had. In fact my boyfriend loved this burger so much that he went home the next night and made it again himself! It was spicy enough for two Texans and mild enough for me (I can’t even handle the low spice at No Thai…) the creaminess of the avocado spread on top tempered out the heat of the chipotle and chutney sauce you pour on top and it’s all offset by the twang of green apples in the turkey patty itself. The instructions could have been set out in a way that made it a little easier to keep track of what step you are on but this recipe was definitely a winner!  We also tried the sweet potato fries, which thanks to Sava’s on State St., I have very high standards for. The recipe is straightforward and simple with a wonderful resulting flavor. Things went awry however when after the forty minutes the instructions said to bake the fries the top came out burnt and the bottom a bit soggy. I will admit though that the oven I had access to does not seem to heat properly (it later burnt my friend’s bread pudding as well) and so it is most likely the fault of poorly maintained equipment (thanks NYU...we had VERY limited resources) rather than a fault in the recipe. The fries still had an amazing flavor with the perfect balance of sweet and salty so I will definitely be trying those again! Overall the book looks colorful and is full of wonderful pictures. The burgers are all inspired (especially the Obama Burger) and for the most part the desserts seem drool worthy! There are a few recipes that I was disappointed in, like the root beer float (two scoops of ice cream two cans/bottles of root beer) or the Vanilla Shake (Ice cream and whole milk). I would hope that our parents explained these classics to us at some point in our lives... Still the Cadbury Egg Shake and the Red Velvet brownies more than make up for it. The only other downside? The introduction, preface, thank you's and about this book got a little bit long. Don't get me wrong, they were all sweet and inspired (especially the thank you pages!) but they got a little bit taxing after 6 pages. It's common in first cookbooks to see a lot of writing, after all the chef has a lot to say! The Good Stuff was no exception and I was often surprised that a section that I though had concluded continued on for another page or two. So my overall opinion? This cookbook is a great way to spice up an American favorite. I love Spike’s (almost) overall creativity and the flavors are wonderful! Wolverine Cuizine is looking for Sponsors! 02/27/2010
To fund our annual publication this year Wolverine CuiZine is looking for sponsors. For $25 a sponsor receives:
We really appreciate your trust and help! Have a great break! I've also included a picture of the mock up so you have an idea of what your getting. It's 40 pages, full-color with a gloss cover and full of great articles! Sponsor Flyer: see below
Sneak Peek at the Mock-up! (cover subject to change) Roos Roast Field Trip! 02/11/2010
At long last the picture's from our Roos Roast excursion are up for your viewing pleasure. Roo's is a local coffee company that specializes in excellent coffee. Trip couldn't have been better. Organized by our Ann Arbor Flavor editor, Zak King, several of us headed out one cold morning to indulge in my personal drug of choice: coffee. As if sampling countless blends wasn't enough of a treat, John, the head of this brilliant roasting operation, made us quiche. Yes a quiche, muffins, cookies and...salmon? were all present. If you'd like to here more about our coffee filled morning, check out Zak's article describing his coffee high and hangover!  So here's a fun discovery! Ms. Humble of the blog Not So Humble Pie is a late twenty-something biological anthropologist and self-proclaimed nerd with serious food skills. She's the perfect distraction for a girl like me who is "trying" to focus on her winter break job-which i would like to point out is building a web site... how am I supposed to resist the temptation of the google search bar in the corner of my browser window? Anyways back on track! Ms. Humble is a witty and from what I have seen, confident food lover and baker extraordinaire. What I can't get over is the elaborate and creative recipes she works on. Like for instance the game console controllers pictured above or the sushi cupcakes you can see below.  We've all seen one form or another of these Yes it's the holiday season, full of good cheer, family, friends, music and at times popcorn. Now I don't think I'm wrong in saying that almost all of us have at one time or another have had a run-in with this seemingly innocent holiday treat. "Gourmet" popcorn of the cheese/candied/buttered variety has been gracing my family's holiday events for as long as I can remember. As a child I learned quickly that the flavors I liked, namely anything but the candied popcorn (I thought it was too sweet), disappeared quickly so I adopted a half-baked popcorn eating strategy which involved my six year-old self running off with the whole tin. Much like Robin Hood I would steal this tasty snack from the parents to share with the kids, that is until the folks got wise to me and soon the popcorn was placed out of reach of children. If the Nacho cheese flavored popcorn featured in this video is any indicator my parents took away that flavored popcorn just in time... You can skip the popcorn sales pitch at the end unless you want to buy a barrel or two. Well I adapted and took to eating just about anything else: sweet treats, cookies, carrots, chips and salsa, honey glazed ham, cheesy scalloped potatoes, salad or Sushi. Yes that's right sushi, it is family tradition at my humble home that we provide a smattering of California, cucumber, avacado and salmon rolls at our Christmas eve party along with more traditional foods. What are you're unique traditions? We would love to hear about it!  There's a special treat in store for us all in the coming weeks... yes more than all the holiday festivities and the fantastic foods that come with them. In the next few weeks we at Wolverine CuiZine are going to be reviewing a cookbook and not just any cookbook, but Freshman in the Kitchen, written by Max and Eli Sussman and published by the Ann Arbor area's own Huron River Press. A few words on the authors: Brothers Max and Eli Sussman are two Michiganders from Huntington Woods with a passion for food. The Sussmans became the go-to men for food advice early on in life due to their cooking-conscious upbringing, eventually leading them to the idea of creating a cookbook. The cookbook was worked on as Eli attended MSU and Max studied at our very own University of Michigan. The book compiles Max's experiences at Eve, a local restaurant (whose owner was recently on the hit television show Top Chef) and Eli's work at a Greek American grill called Lou and Harry's. Other joint experiences include food courts, the Detroit Zoo and a Jewish summer camp called Camp Tavor. Needless to say their experiences provide a wide spectrum of experience and interests. News from an Editor: Veronica 11/17/2009
 Well Food Lovers, there's a lot to look forward to in the upcoming months. Especially the holiday that makes a Foodie out of just about everyone: Thanksgiving! In order to prepare you (and ourselves) to savor every delicious morsel that passes your lips next Thursday, we're going to provide you with Thanksgiving recipes and article for before the big day, and maybe even a few for after (some creative ways to use those leftovers). So we won't skip straight to Christmas like the stores, after all, who doesn't like thinking about all that food? That's not all either, shortly after Thanksgiving we will start our two month weekly review of a cookbook. It's called Freshman in the Kitchen, written by Max and Eli Sussman. So every week for eight weeks, we'll pass around the book to a new writer and they'll tell us about their experience and of course the end result of a recipe from the book. It's tons of fun for us and sure to be entertaining (especially if I cook something...) so be sure to tune in and see how it's going!  Last Saturday, I had the immense privilege of going to the farmer's market with several of the writers from the College Cooking section and my fellow editors Sara and Zak. It turned out to be a perfect fall morning! We Started our excursion off with a trip to Ann Arbor's own Afternoon Delight (which is spectacular by the way) on East Liberty. After happily filling up on pancakes the size of plates, blueberry muffins the size of coffee cups and all manner of eggs, a very content group of CuiZiners ventured back outside and headed off to Kerrytown! At the farmer's market we found everything from thumbnail sized potatoes to freshly baked bread. I also got a sneak peek at what certainly promises to be fantastic coffee for my upcoming coffee tour of Ann Arbor! It was a fantastic time, thanks to all that made it! Cathy's photos from that day! Veronica Thompson A Sweet Treat! by Veronica Thompson 08/23/2009
 So here’s a morsel that will make your mouth water! I had the spectacular chance to study abroad in Florence, Italy for six weeks and stumbled upon these brightly colored sweets. You’ve heard of gelato right? The creamy and cold, ice cream-like dessert that packs enough sugar to give an elephant a head rush? Well a few brilliant street vendors have put it in popsicle form! As with any gelato they were fantastic! Now here’s something you might not know, Italians INSIST that gelato is NOT ice cream. If you ask for ice cream, the man or woman behind the brightly lit counter piled high with bright piles of crazy flavors, will tell you as much. They take pride in their gelato, and for good reason too! Gelato is much smoother and slightly softer and less icy than American ice cream. Not to mention it also comes in a huge spectrum of flavors! From cookie flavor, to honeydew, to the best dark chocolate that I have ever encountered! I’ll take gelato over boring old ice cream any day, maybe an Italian gelato maker will adopt me…  I died and went to sugar heaven! Gelato- Lemon flavored and definitely worth the 2 Euro! Coffee Corner 08/23/2009
By Veronica Thompson Hello fellow foodies! Welcome to the very first post on Wolverine CuiZIne! We're very excited about the upcoming year. While we haven't got much up here now, starting in September we will start publishing our articles! You can expect: -Delicious Recipes -Scintillating Secret Tips and Tricks -Restaurant Reviews: Ann Arbor -Tempting Information on Healthy Foods -Sumptuous Articles on International Foods -And so many more Delectable foodie conversations! I will be posting under the Coffee Corner category but there is much more to come! I hope that you will follow our fledgling magazine as we work our way into the campus! Thanks! Veronica Co-Editor and Chief | Recipes to chew on:
Foodie, n.
A person who has an ardent or refined interest in food.
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