Seeking to foster a renewed interest in home culinary arts among experienced home cooks.
This is not a Web site for food phobic's or wellness hypochondriacs.
Think of a drizzle as a liquid garnish. Something distinct added at the last minute to the top of a dish to impart a contrasting taste of richness, sweetness or depth. Here we have the usual liquors, maple syrup and ice cream syrups and less usual–high quality extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and aged balsamic …
The menu:2 10-12 pound turkeysChicken stock (for gravy, stuffings and carrots) Day ahead gravy (your recipe, my stock)Cranberries with roasted jalapenosTwo stuffingsMashed potatoes (your recipe)Glazed CarrotsBrussels sprouts with bacon lardons or Spicy sproutsPies and Gelatos CHICKEN STOCK If you worked for French or Italian chefs in high-end kitchens, they had you made stocks a couple …
Farmed salmon is good and inexpensive. Here, seasoned with Cajun Seasoning from The Spice House and stir fry veggies from Trader Joe’s–all done in the wok with EVOO. Thaw the veggies and season the salmon fillet, then toss and stir fry the veggies at high heat in the wok until done-about five minutes. Remove the …
Rainier cherries have the highest sugar content in the cherry family. I buy them every season for breakfast cereal, smoothies and to make ice cream. However, pitting cherries one at a time is a slow process, with hits, misses and pits flying everywhere. I hate doing it. So here’s the solution: Can’t say this is …
When doing a stagiaire at The George Town Club one afternoon, I prepared a batch of pommes de terrre rissolee. The chef placed two “football potatoes” on each entree plate as an amuse-bouche, to the delight of the club dinners. The French classic sauteed/roasted potato dish called Pommes de Terre Rissolees calls for small potatoes …
Located in Silver Spring, Maryland, Mia Rhee makes beautiful pottery. The pottery I like is functional everyday stuff in the kitchen, pantry and fridge, on the dining table and even the coffee table–holding all manner of products with grace, style and artful delight. My latest acquisition is a set of Mia’s rice bowls featuring a …
I’ve used a food vacuum machine for 15 years. Wore out the first one, an “external” vacuum machine by FoodSaver (still available at Costco’s). Then upgraded big time to this “internal” chamber vacuum. I buy, then portion, vacuum package and freeze individual servings of salmon, halibut, large uncooked shrimp (four to a pack), boneless pork …
Josh Donald has written an excellent tutorial on kitchen knives. Their lure, their history, their designs, their popularity, their steel types, their preferred uses and sharpening. Whew … that’s a lot in one small book but he pulls it off quite well–well enough to read it you’re into fine kitchen knives. First off, kitchen knifes …
The Spice Cookbook, by Avanelle Day and Lillie Stuckley has been my library reference since it was published in 1964. Not for the recipes or the authors’ innovations, which were not impressive then or now, but for the 75 page opening treatise on the spice trade and spices. Ah, time marches on and in this …
Ain’t nothing perfect in the culinary tool world, but Staub has a contender with this large, beautiful, heavy (7 Lbs.), cast iron enameled pan. It has a flat bottom exterior, a high-sided round interior and side handles for lifting but no center handle for tossing (too heavy for that anyway). So, I would describe it …
Soy sauce has been around for 2500 years. A combination of soy paste, wheat and fermentation enzymes, brewing and aging, it originally served as a salt extender–as salt was then rare and expensive. I have mixed culinary emotions about soy sauce. It takes over any dish if too much is used–even the good stuff. Store …
I stock shrimp–buy the 11-15/lb size from Costco, bring ’em home, vacuum seal them in bags of 4 to 6–then freeze them for posterity. They’re easy to prepare with the only caution not to over cook them. Here’s how: thaw the shrimp, set a timer for two minutes, bring a small pot of beer or …
Consomme is chicken soup made from chicken stock, clarified with eggs and raw meat and strained and strained again. When done right, it is so clear you can read the date on a quarter coin dropped to the bottom of the soup pot. Years back it was the soup of choice to snatch life back …
