From the category archives:

Ingredients and Techniques

Hollandaise Hopeful

June 8, 2009

Hollandaise is getting a bad rap with some home cooks.  Tales of broken sauces and ruined brunch menus have kept some of us at home from attempting what is really a simple technique.  Some printed recipes complicate things with unnecessary steps like clarified butter.  Clarifying butter will yeild a cleaner finished product, but it’s a [...]

Read the full article →

Mr. Mustard

May 20, 2009

Everyone’s got a favorite hot dog, and in my recent Post article I touch on some good ones around the beltway.  To be honest though it’s hard to beat Zweigles.  Natural casings are nothing new, but there’s just something about the way these things swell when cooked, and snap when bitten.  If you’re ever out [...]

Read the full article →

On Blanching Veg

May 19, 2009

It’s spring time, and I want my asparagus to be as green as the grass in my front yard.  The trick to a nice bright green finished product is to partly cook the asparagus in heavily salted water before shocking it in ice water.  This frigid bath sets the color as well as stops the [...]

Read the full article →

How to Sharpen a knife

May 15, 2009

If you cook a lot you’ve undoubtedly encountered dull knives and the havoc they can create.   Squashed tomatoes, slipping blades, bloodied fingers.  If you’re not sharpening regularly you’ve maybe forgoten how nice fresh steel can be.  Michael Ruhlman waxes poetic on the razor sharp blade, but I’m disappointed to hear he recommends everyone [...]

Read the full article →

The New World Order

May 12, 2009

I had to admit when Chef Todd Grey of Equinox handed me his “New Bay” spice, I was more than skeptical. I’ve spent 30 years dousing crabs and shrimp with Old Bay, and it seemed to work just fine. Messing with the classics is asking for trouble. It’s like trying to re-create [...]

Read the full article →

Meta-mis

May 8, 2009

I’ve noticed a strong correlation between the amount of time I spend preparing to cook, and my enjoyment of the process, as well as the quality of the end product.  There are nights that I’ll come home from work and think, “eh, it’s just a pot of beans and tortillas”.  I’ll tear right into my [...]

Read the full article →

Where is Lardo?

May 5, 2009

My wife’s birthday was quickly approaching last May and I’d envisioned a huge event.   There would be tamales and quesadillas filled with musty huitlacoche.  Kegs of beer plus margaritas for 50, and there would be salsa for miles.  But my show stopper was to be carnitas not unlike those served at Taqueria Nacionale near my [...]

Read the full article →

The Biscuit Machine

April 22, 2009

Repetition and experimentation.  You can follow one great recipe after another and  consistently turn out great food.  But when you make the same things again and again and you pay close attention, something else starts to happen.  Subtle variations perceived throughout the process lead to subtle variations in the end product.  When you make a [...]

Read the full article →

Ham Three Ways

April 20, 2009

The receiver lifted and a calm collected and decidedly country voice answered the phone. I was much dismayed about the lack of response to my panicked emails. “Where is my Sunday ham Mr. Benton?” My precious beauty ordered only after hours of careful research and deliberation, was supposed to arrive on a Thursday [...]

Read the full article →

Prices On a Rampage

April 7, 2009

Ramps are big business this year, and demand is really pushing up prices.  The Dupont markets asked $4.50 for a bunch of four or five;  They were sold out before 10am.  NYC’s Greenmarket commanded $15 a pound, and they were selling.  Brabo’s Butcher block in Alexandria wants $20 a pound, and only had a few [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →