Chopbiscuit daily links: Wendy's Dave Thomas is rolling in his grave

Please sell the Hot 'n Juicy, please!

Wendy's sues franchisees, unveils new prototype

As the newly independent Wendy’s prepares to report earnings Thursday for the first time since parting ways with Arby’s Restaurant Group, the quick-service brand is finding itself locked in a legal wrangle with a group of its own franchisees. The 5,877-unit Wendy’s Co. has filed a lawsuit against franchisees who have yet to install specialized equipment required to prepare the brand’s new Dave’s Hot ’n Juicy cheeseburger.

Wendy's: You will buy the new special equipment (waving hand like a jedi knight)
Franchisee: We will buy the new equipment. 
Wendy's: Move along, move along.... 

Food Day, modeled on Earth Day

Chefs, nutritionists and food activists are asking U.S. restaurants to buy more products locally or collect for food banks for Food Day in October. Groups such as Chefs Collaborative, American Culinary Federation and the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture are encouraging local restaurants to seek out partnerships with area hunger and sustainable-agriculture groups Oct. 24.

Sustainable food doesn't have to be Elitist: Pigs Edition

Over on the Atlantic site, the food politics writer Jane Black has a thoughtful post on farmers market sticker shock in brownstone Brooklyn. Confronted at her neigborhood market by the spectacle of $8/dozen eggs—which had sold out, no less—Black frets that "that the 'good-food-costs-more' argument is being taken to an extreme that puts at risk the goal of a mass food-reform movement, which is to make good food available to the greatest number of people possible."

Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce (recipe - Fifteen spatulas)

I don’t think there’s ever a time when I don’t get TOTALLY excited about eating these.  Coconut shrimp is just so delicious, and it tastes even better with this spicy sweet dipping sauce.  There’s a lot of variation in coconut shrimp, but I prefer to use unsweetened coconut instead of sweetened.  I think the sweetened coconut makes it taste like a shrimp macaroon, and is a bit too sweet.  Take a look at your local grocery store for the unsweetened coconut, and if you have a Whole Foods nearby, I find the unsweetened coconut both in the bulk/scoop section with all the grains and also in the baking section.  Oh, and definitely go with panko rather than regular bread crumbs.  It will make ALL the difference in the crispiness.

Making Cheezoo-Kaykee (recipe - Joe Pastry)

I’m not going to call this chiizukeiki or Japanese cheesecake, I’ve decided. I’m going to call it “cheesecake surprise.” Because let me tell you, I put a bite of this into my mouth convinced that I already knew what it was going to taste like…but I was completely surprised. For Japanese cheesecake has the feel of a dense soufflé or angelfood cake, but it has none of the dryness those sorts of egg foam-heavy foods can have. Instead it’s entirely moist, lightly sweet and smooth, and it vanishes off the tongue almost instantly, leaving nothing but a hint of New York behind. Remarkable.