Cook free or die!
For Bourdain fans, the cook free or die! t-shirt.
May 07, 2008
April 17, 2008
asparagus + egg
I've had asparagus on the brain thanks to all of the delicious asparagus recipes I've read recently. Last night, I decided to improvise a bit, taking inspiration from Gina, Nick, and Charmaine to create my plate of roasted asparagus and egg.
I started a pot of brown rice in preparation for my egg "poaching." Once the rice was done and the rice cooker was in "keep warm" mode, I took 2 eggs each wrapped in a 1/2 paper towel, and placed them on top of the rice to cook. Charmaine recommends leaving the eggs in there for an hour, but on the advice of a friend who has experimented with this technique, I was aiming for 15-20 minutes. My plan was to take one egg out at 15 minutes and if it wasn't done, I still had a spare egg to cook.
Meanwhile, I started my asparagus per Gina's instructions -- I boiled the asparagus in salted water for about 3 to 4 minutes and then drained. Next, I lined them up on a pan and drizzled with olive oil, rolling them a bit to make sure they were well covered before salting generously and sprinkling with grated Parmigiano Reggiano. (Gina also recommends topping with unsalted butter cut into tiny cubes, but I opted to skip it.) Into a preheated 400°F oven went my spears. I roasted my asparagus for about 20 minutes, until it looked pretty close to "hammered" to me.
Now it was time to check on my egg. In case it wasn't done, I checked my egg by cracking it open into a bowl instead of directly onto my asparagus. As you can see from the photo above, it was very lightly poached and warm to the touch. Ideally, I would have liked my egg a little more well done, but this was a fresh from the Greenmarket egg, so I felt comfortable enough eating it in this state so onto the asparagus it went! (I left the the second egg in the rice cooker for about ~40 minutes, and by that time the yolk as no longer runny, but it was still delicious.) Added some fresh ground black pepper, and it was ready for my belly. The end product? DELICIOUS.
Gina DePalma's Hammered Spears
April 04, 2008
Recommended Reading: NCFOOD
NCFood is the North Carolina Folklife Institute's food blog, written by North Carolina historian and Carteret County native David Cecelski. Reading it makes me want to hurry back to my home state and get to know the places, people, and food David describes with such care. Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina...
April 03, 2008
Seriously, Y'all
In an alternate universe, I drive a pick-up truck with a pig face insert for when the smoker isn't hitched.
April 02, 2008
Bacon Flowchart
Bacon Flowchart
Originally uploaded by ChrisL_AK.
April 01, 2008
Chow Chow Cupcake
Chow Chow Cupcake
Originally uploaded by nycblondieandbrownie.
I am partial to Chow Chows, therefore I am partial to this entry in Martha Stewart's Cutest Cupcake Contest. You have until April 4th to enter your own cutest cupcake.
March 31, 2008
Onsen Tamago
onsen tamago
Originally uploaded by super charz.
This is an egg preparation I'll have to try. The egg is "poached" inside its shell and then served in a broth of dashi, mirin and soy sauce. Charmaine explains this poaching technique on her blog, Tasty Treats.
March 28, 2008
Where to Eat in Seattle's International District
I admire and enjoy the thoroughness and ambition of the MSG150 blog: "Over the next year or so we will eat lunch at every restaurant in Seattle's International District (aka Chinatown) and (a) collect interesting data, (b) write funny and useful reviews, and (c) make a million dollars." [via Not Martha]
March 26, 2008
1200 lbs. of Cheese Carved into the Statue of Liberty
God bless the U.S.A. [via CurdNerds]
March 19, 2008
University of Gastronomic Sciences Info Sessions
If you fancy yourself a budding or aspiring gastronomic scientist, you might want to attend one of the upcoming information sessions about the programs offered at the University of Gastronomic Sciences. From the press release:
University of Gastronomic Sciences will hold information sessions in Manhattan, NY, and Berkeley, CA, for prospective students interested in learning more about the school’s programs and application procedures. Staff and alumni will be on hand to explain the educational philosophy of the university, present the undergraduate and graduate degrees, discuss internships and work opportunities post-graduation, and answer all other questions. Co-founded in 2003 by the international non-profit Slow Food and the Italian regions of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, the school’s innovative approach is to create a new understanding of gastronomy, linking the act of eating with the act of producing, along with all the phases in between. Four programs at two Italian campuses follow a multidisciplinary learning model, merging science with humanities, sensory training with communications, classroom study with field seminars (including travel to five continents).
The two information sessions will take place as follows:
New York, NY
May 1, 2008
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Murray's Cheese (254 Bleecker St)Berkeley, CA
May 1, 2008
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
The Ecology Center (2530 San Pablo Ave, Suite H)If you are interested in attending, email your name and phone number to d.szanto@unisg.it (last-minute attendees are also welcome).
March 06, 2008
2 Oatmeal Cookie Recipes to Try
I don't like chocolate chip cookies (insane, I know!), but I do love a good oatmeal cookie. Both these recipes call for sprinkling coarse salt over the cookies before they go in the oven—sounds like an excellent idea to me.
Cook's Illustrated's Crispy Salted Oatmeal Cookies
Habeas Brûlée's Salty Oat Cookies
February 29, 2008
Getting schooled on NYC Pizza
DJ Bubbles reports on the state of the slice below 14th St in Manhattan and takes a commenter to school (beware, pizza nerdery ahead!):
NYC Food Dude, I checked out your NY Pizza Tour alright - endorsing Bella Napoli and Dean's in the same blog is gross negligence - did you actually eat at these places or just judge them on the picture you took? I sense the force is weak in you. You actually think Bleecker Street is the best pie in West Village? Although, considering that you give props to John's, your tastes might just be out of sorts. We got a term for that where I come from - you're having a WACK ATTACK. Like my man Fred Levine says, you don't know delicious....Class is dismissed -- DJ Bubbles
February 28, 2008
Brain + Link Dump
Random links and things:
Go read The Paupered Chef. Some of my favorite recent posts: Crisp-Skinned Roast Chicken, Beef Jerky Hijinks, and Which Cuts Make for the Best Burger?
I'm planning on trying out a few of the recipes I've spotted on Eggs on Sunday -- first up, Curried Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard. Who can resist Apple Cup Pies?
Lunch yesterday at The Spotted Pig was excellent as always. I had the fried duck egg with bacon salad (can you still call that a salad?). The rest of the restaurant was a parade of burgers and fries.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I, too, love tinned sardines and sardine and celery salad sounds lovely.
Crispy Roasted Chickpeas sounds like my kind of snack.
I'd like to get my hands on some Johnny the Tofu Maker, Blowin' in the Wind -- a good excuse to head out to Mitsuwa.
A couple of weekends ago, I headed out to Flushing's Chinatown with Dan and Kathryn for a short eating expedition. My favorite bite? The 75 cents Peking Duck bun.
Season 4 of Top Chef starts next month. I'll be rooting for Jen Biesty, Coco500's executive chef.
February 19, 2008
Barbecue and Sweet Tea
While doing a little research on the South Carolina barbecue sauce map, I stumbled across the most excellent "A Very Brief History of the Four Types of Barbeque Found In the USA" written by Lake E. High, Jr., President, South Carolina Barbeque Association. It's worth reading in its entirety if you're a barbecue lover or geek, or a Southerner.
Below are a two of my favorite bits on the term "barbeque":
Unfortunately, most Americans who live outside of the South in general and North and South Carolina in particular, use it as a verb or, if they use it as a noun, use it incorrectly. Midwesterners or Yankees will say to friends, "I'm going to barbeque some hamburgers tonight." Or they will say, "Let's put some brats on the barbeque and break out some beer." And while everyone will be having a great time sitting around in the smoke, the use of the word in that way is incorrect. That neighbor is going to grill some hamburgers, not barbeque them. The cooker he is going to cook them on should be called a grill, not a barbeque.
[...]
The incorrect use of the term barbeque on television, in movies and in magazines which is, more often than not, written or spoken by people who know nothing about real barbeque, has led to the misconception, for instance, that beef is barbeque. It's not. Don't forget, barbeque is more specifically a noun, a specific thing, and that specific thing is pork, not beef or fish, or beaver, or shrimp or anything else. It's quite possible to barbeque beef; tens of thousands of people out west do it all the time. And it's oftentimes delicious. But it's "barbequed beef" not barbeque. The term barbeque is always properly reserved for pork. (emphasis mine)
Another great food map: The Sweet Tea Line, the availability of sweet tea in Virginia as a representation of the Mason-Dixon line. Did you know that South Carolina is the first place in the United States where tea was grown and is the only state to ever have produced tea commercially? More ice tea and sweet tea history.
February 14, 2008
February 12, 2008
Chocolate Scrabble
Chocolate Scrabble: the perfect edible gift for your Scrabble lover. [via swissmiss]
February 07, 2008
January 31, 2008
Chicken + Lardo = Perfecto
As Emeril would say, Gourmet assistant editor, Alan Sytsma, "kicks it up a notch" with his roast chicken technique:
"... I have a secret weapon in the fight against dried out, tough meat. A secret ingredient so simple, and so easily implemented, that once you try it, you'll never make a chicken without it again: lardo, otherwise known as cured pig fat."
"Just cut thin slices of lardo and place them under the chicken's skin everywhere you can find room, then roast it as you would otherwise. How thin should the lardo slices be? The thinner, the better. A skilled hand and a filet knife will give you adequate results, but if you have access to a meat slicer, you'll get the so-thin-it's-almost-see-through effect that you're looking for; the idea here is really to blanket the meat in pig fat, so that the lardo will just melt into the flesh as it roasts." [emphasis mine]
I like the way this man thinks!
January 30, 2008
Where to Shop for Japanese Food
Just Hungry's Maki Itoh has started a guide to where to shop for Japanese food around the world and is soliciting readers' help. Go and add your favorite Japanese grocery store if it's not already there. I'll be referring to the Japanese grocery stores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and California lists.
2 related lists worth checking out, also by Maki:
Thanks, Maki!
