From the monthly archives:

July 2009

Defining Madness

July 17, 2009

Standing in my garage next to an old gas grill and a stand alone propane burner I told my friend that I was ready to conduct a follow up test run.  Frank was taken back, noting my burgers were already better than most.
“They were fine” as they were.
“Fine?”
I was comparing myself to the great restaurant [...]

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Meat Popsicle

July 15, 2009

The NY times offers a look into the world of gyro manufacturing today.  With so many food writers bashing processed food as of late it’s interesting to see a journalist cover a big manufacturer and not light fires.  The article itself is alright, but the  accompanying video is borderline disturbing.   Not that it’s unsanitary [...]

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Favorite Chicken Salad

July 10, 2009

Rotisserie birds are made for this shit.  I like to plunge my fingers into tender juicy meat.  Pull flesh from bone.  When it’s hot it leaves my fingers pink.  Nothing fancy or refined about this.  Balance salty, sweet, and crunch, and a breath of spice.
Acid.
Some broiled veg.
Some lovely bread.
It’s chicken salad.
A nice meal.
Favorite Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
1/2 [...]

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Almond and Cilantro Chicken Salad

July 9, 2009

Gourmet writer Kemp Minfie echoes my lack of enthusiasm for lesser chicken salads, and shares a few tips along the way.  Shred your chicken instead of dicing, and ditch the grapes.

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Culinary Bootcamp

July 9, 2009

Melissa McCart infiltraits the militaries culinary elite, and plies them with Texas Pete

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Your stove is stupid

July 7, 2009

When I started reading the Comme Ça burger recipe I quickly identified it as one of those techniques that works well in a restaurant, but doesn’t translate perfectly at home because residential ovens don’t pack the same heat.  It’s the same reason roast chicken skin at your favorite bistro is just a little bit crisper, [...]

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A la Plancha

July 1, 2009

They won’t leave me alone.  Today’s NY times piece on burgers has opened up a Pandora’s box of craving.    The same cake tester, potato rolls, handling instructions, pickles and other pointers I’ve been playing with for weeks have been re-arranged and laid out for me in a way that has stoked an absolutely ravenous  burger [...]

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