A cook's thoughts on food and eating and cooking
The taste of a Manhattan that is shaken, compared to one that is stirred, is radically different. Why, I have no idea. But it proves some profound point that I have been trying to make for a very long time. Unfortunately, the point is floating lazily around my brain, not quite visible enough to be clear.
Maybe tomorrow?
Yes, I have been a slug, or maybe just so boring that I deleted a few posts lest my many few readers fall over and smash their noses into their keyboards in boredom — and then sue me for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The problem is that I had a few things that I wanted to write, but when I actually put finger to keyboard, I thought to myself, “what are you, a moron?”
Soon. I promise, soon.
I like gadgets as much as the next guy, but the vast majority of my cooking-tool use revolves around a couple of wooden spoons and my trusty tongs. The spoons are great because they don’t scratch anything, and their edges conform to the corners of most pots and pans. And don’t minimize their Continue reading “Silicone Spatulas And Chimpanzees”
Not really. I love hamburgers, and unlike most restaurants, I understand that making a good one is a difficult proposition. I’m not going to bore you with my list of the best hamburgers, and I’m not going to irritate you with my opinion of the best way to cook them. What I am going to discuss is the uncomfortable Continue reading “The Lowly Hamburger”
Here is an amusing little article from the Wall Street Journal, comparing a restaurant kitchen to an investment bank. It’s worth a read if you are bored and need a few minutes of entertainment.
There are many, many recipes for this regional dish, but the common ingredients are potatoes, duck fat, garlic and parsley. And really, what could be better? Supposedly every single one of the 60 plus restaurants in Sarlat, this dish’s namesake, serve Continue reading “That Pesky Duck Fat Again! Potatoes Sarladaise”
I picked this up at The Wine Library, while shopping for uh…wine. In addition to a great selection of wines from around the world (and great prices too), they have a magnificent cheese shop. Really. Great. Fantastic. Wonderful. The best I have ever seen. And I picked up this little gem, mostly because I was intrigued by the packaging…a vacuum-packed flat of six of these wonderful little rounds of ash-coated goat cheese. It wasn’t even that expensive. But it was wonderful stuff. So stop buying crap goat cheese from wherever you buy cheese, and pick up this stuff instead.
I promise that this won’t be a rant about how Mark Bitten sometimes minimizes recipes to the point of absurdity. But he did just that with his roast duck recipe. Anyway, one of the people who commented is obviously someone who appreciates the finer things in life, one of which is duck fat. She has an interesting blog that is worth poking around.
Yes, I’m a bit too much like a broken record, but at least I’m not the only one who thinks that Alice Waters is a twit. Skip to the last question, unless you want to read a typical interview.
Late last summer I spent a few hours at Blue Smoke, enjoying the service, the look of the place, and the air of professionalism that permeates it. I didn’t particularly enjoy the food, but maybe I am too picky. What I did take tremendous pleasure in was the Sazerac that Continue reading “Small Change, Big Taste — Thoughts On The Sazerac”