IDEAS IN FOOD: 30 entries from June 2016

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30 entries from June 2016

Thumbstitution

"A doughnut without a hole, is a Danish."-Ty Webb, Caddy Shack

I was making doughnuts for a dinner at Inferno Pizzeria. I forgot to bring my doughnut cutter. I was completely lost about how I was going to get the hole in the center of my doughnuts. Seriously. I was so used to the cutter and the perfect rounds achieved I couldn't see another option. It's amazing how our routine and outlook can prevent us from seeing alternatives. Thankfully I realized my thumbs were the perfect tool to push a hole in my dough. I rotated the dough around my thumb and my doughnut was no longer in danger of being a Danish.

Years Past

June 30, 2015

June 30, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 30, 2016 at 08:59 PM in Approach to Cooking, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mommy's Famous Brussels Sprouts

Thinly slice bacon and put it in a large saute pan with water. Set over medium heat and let the bacon render, stirring occasionally until it starts to sizzle.

Once it starts frying, stir constantly, until golden brown. Turn off the heat. Transfer the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pan.

Add the split brussels sprouts to the pan, season with salt, and toss to coat with the bacon fat. Set over medium heat.

Once the sprouts start to sizzle make sure they are all flat-side down in the pan. Add 1/4" water to the bottom of the pan and cover.

Cook until the sprouts start to sizzle under the lid, 5-8 minutes.

Remove the cover and add a healthy splash of soy sauce, tilting the pan to coat all of the brussels sprouts. Let them cook for another 2-3 minutes until the bottoms have turned a deep golden brown. Don't let them get too dark if you're serving these to finicky diners.

Stir the sprouts and check the seasoning. Add salt and pepper if desired. Transfer the cooked vegetables to serving bowl.

Garnish with bacon and serve immediately.

This is one of Amaya's favorite vegetable dishes. She claims that she will never ever get sick of them.

Years Past

June 29, 2015

June 29, 2012

June 29, 2010

June 29, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 29, 2016 at 05:43 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers

An enlightening Ted talk from Adam Grant for the procrastinator in all of us.

Years Past

June 28, 2015

June 28, 2012

June 28, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 28, 2016 at 03:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Pepperoni Flavored Short Ribs

We flavored these short ribs with a paste of garlic, smoked paprika, parsley, and soy sauce. We pounded them, rubbed them with the paste and tied them up. Tomorrow we will braise them in a pepperoni spiked tomato sauce. They are destined for the dinner at Inferno Pizza tomorrow night.

Years Past

June 27, 2015

June 27, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 27, 2016 at 06:29 PM in American Noodles, Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday Reading

This is the current stack of books at my elbow. I've been thumbing through them for information, inspiration, and ideas. All great books and all totally different. There's a wide world of information out there and we often look to others to learn something new and to show us a different perspective on things. Here are a few things we've been reading online:

How Americans pretend to love "ethnic food" An article by Roberto A. Ferdman via the Washington Post.

Gorgongyzoa (Gorgonzola Potstickers), from Marc Matsumoto over at No Recipes.

Fork Stacker of Food Separatist: what your eating habits say about you, from Amy Fleming over at The Guardian.

Federal GMO labeling bill hailed as 'true compromise,' but critics say it's woefully inadequate by Elaine Watson over at Food Navigator-USA.com.

General Tsao's Chicken Wings from The Lady & Pups.

What's With Wheat? Joel Salatin tells us in a new documentary by Brian Barth over at Modern Farmer.

You Want Tastier Coffee? Freeze Beans Then Grind from Joanna Klein at the New York Times.

The Grueling Patagonia Expedition Race in Chile, for the seriously hardcore athletes, via the LA Times. Because not everything is about food.

Years Past

June 26, 2015

June 26, 2012

June 26, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 26, 2016 at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First Corn of the Season

I was down in lower Bucks county today so I made a point of stopping at Shady Brook Farm. Although I thought it was too early in the season for corn, I decided to take a look, just in case. They also sell ice cream and have a playground so Amaya was more than happy to make the detour. I was in luck, there was a small amount of corn. Even though my friends noted that it was relatively expensive at 2 ears for a $1, I shucked a few anyway. We all love corn and it is one of the the truly seasonal vegetables in our world because Amaya has no love for frozen corn.

Once I got home I piled the corn onto a plate and carried it into the dining room for a photo. To my dismay, one ear immediately tumbled off and onto the floor, spraying bits of kernel and corn juice everywhere. What could I do? I rinsed it off and ate it raw. I knew it wouldn't keep until later and I knew that raw corn had a sweet appeal of its own. Years ago when I was student in Boulder, my friend and I were walking to the Pearl Street mall. It was summertime and there was a truck parked by the side of the road filled with corn. A few cute boys were selling the corn and stopped us as we wandered by. We weren't going to buy any because we were living in the dorm but they convinced us to at least taste the raw corn. It was a revelation. Each kernel seemed to explode on my tongue, sweet and juicy, with a light crunch and clean flavor. It was the first time I had ever tasted raw corn and even though it was wonderful, I don't often remember to eat it this way. Today was the perfect reminder as the damaged ear was still mostly in good shape. I didn't waste a kernel, savoring both the flavor and the memory.

Years Past

June 25, 2015

June 25, 2012

June 25, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 25, 2016 at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rhubarb-Strawberry Jam

We started with rhubarb. We cut it into pieces and combined it with an equal amount of sugar. We refrigerated the fruit and let it macerate overnight. The next morning we took 3 quarts of strawberries, washed, hulled and added them to the rhubarb. We intuitively added salt. We cooked the macerated and fresh fruit until it was thick, viscous, and reached 218°F. We removed the jam from the heat, let it cool and tasted it again. We added a bit more salt and put the brilliant jam into jars in the refrigerator.

I'm looking to unveil the rhubarb-strawberry jam at the shop on a doughnut and alongside our frozen custard.

Years Past

June 24, 2015

June 24, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 24, 2016 at 08:03 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

Extruding Miso Noodles

In our first book we created a recipe for miso noodles. If you search our site, you'll find numerous variations on the idea. The point is miso noodles are amazing. In this weeks workshop we played with miso noodles. We blended 150 grams of white miso with 500 grams of water to hydrate 2000 grams of semolina for our extruded noodles. Then we played around with different shapes with the dough: bucatini, radiatorre, chittara, penne.

The miso provided a full richness to the noodles. It's prominent flavor in the raw dough faded to a supporting role in the finished preparations. In our next run I will choose a darker and more intense miso. It will stand up to the eventual dilution of flavor we observed, keeping the miso flavor forward.

Years Past

June 23, 2015

June 23, 2012

June 23, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 23, 2016 at 08:53 PM in American Noodles, Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

Quick Confit

We seasoned pork shoulder pieces with salt and Luchito Chile paste. We put the pork pieces in a bowl and covered them with pork fat. We put 2 inches of water and a rack into our pressure cooker. We put the bowl on the rack and pressure cooked the meat submerged in fat in our pressure steamer for 45 minutes. We let the pressure dissipate naturally in the cooker. We removed the pork from the fat and used 2 forks to shred the meat. We folded in several spoonfuls of the flavored fat into the meat and finished it with sliced scallions. The quick confit was rich, smooth, spicy and meaty.

Years Past

June 22, 2015

June 22, 2012

June 22, 2006

June 22, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 22, 2016 at 07:27 PM in Approach to Cooking, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mortadella Wrapped Pork

At what point does an idea and a technique become part of the vernacular, rather than an outlier oddity? During today's workshop we worked with transglutaminase to make a uniform center cut pork loin wrapped in mortadella. We bonded the meat together by cooking the wrapped loin sous vide for 2 hours at 55°C. Then we unwrapped the loin and seared it in olive oil in a cast iron skillet. We let the meat rest for 10 minutes and sliced the loin. The bonding held beautifully. The seam where the pork loin came together was clearly visible due to the differences in the meat's coloration. The mortadella became a flavorful addition to the outside of the loin, much like the skin on a porchetta. It was a delicious, unctuous complement to the lean and juicy loin. The two were greater together.

Years Past

June 21, 2015

June 21, 2012

June 21, 2006

June 21, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 21, 2016 at 06:42 PM in Approach to Cooking, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Carrot-Ginger Kombucha

Fresh organic carrot juice + GT's Ginger Kombucha = a delicious, refreshing, and possibly energizing drink. It's a great way to take a well crafted product and, by adding a fresh ingredient, make something even better.

PS: We use the Omega masticating juicer for our juicing applications. It's a work horse.

Years Past

June 20, 2015

June 20, 2012

June 20, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 20, 2016 at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy Father's Day

As one of her presents Amaya wanted to make something delicious and healthy for Father's Day. She read a book about a family that made a pineapple sofa for Mother's Day and loved the idea of creating something with fruit. She's not a big fan of pineapple though, so she sculpted a portrait of Alex out of some of his favorite summer fruit instead. She had the best time creating it and it brought a huge smile to Alex's face. Win-win.

Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there!

Years Past

June 19, 2015

June 19, 2012

June 19, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 19, 2016 at 03:50 PM in At the Table | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seasons

Raspberries have made their appearance at the local farm market. Right now you can get both raspberries and strawberries, but the appearance of one indicates the impending departure of the other. I don't often think of berries as seasonal. They are ubiquitous in supermarkets all the year round. Greenhouse strawberries can be surprisingly good and our acceptance of their near constant availability is hard to avoid. Eating my way through the season of local berries has been enlightening. They are not always perfect and beautiful. They have interesting knobby shapes, occasional splits, and the odd tough bits and bites. They are sometimes incredibly sweet and fragrant, occasionally flabby and watery, succulent, soggy, tender, and unique. Unique is possibly the perfect word because each berry has a personality of it's own. They are not consistent and because of that the very best of them are so much better than any hothouse berry I have ever tasted. We've grown used to uniformity and sometimes we need to remember that without moments of dullness there would be no flashes of genius to bring things into balance.

Years Past

June 18, 2015

June 18, 2012

June 18, 2006

June 18, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 18, 2016 at 05:49 PM in Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thick Cut Pork Chops

Season the pork chops generously with salt (or with a dry rub, if that's how you roll) and lay them out on a rack. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 48 hours before cooking.

Next we cooked them for 2 hours at 55°C. in the CVap. We used to cook pork at 57°C and changed the temperature to try something new and see if it would make the pork even juicier on the plate.

We finished them on the grill to add a little caramelization and smoky flavor.

Then we let them rest for 10-15 minutes before carving them up to serve family style. The meat was moist and tender, and the fat was succulent and flavorful. The adjustment in temperature in the CVap was a definite success. As long as you're sourcing high quality meat there's no reason not serve it pink and juicy and at it's very best.

Years Past

June 17, 2015

June 17, 2012

June 17, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 17, 2016 at 06:12 PM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (2)

Rice Krispies Meringue

We folded rice krispies into our mason jar meringue. We spread the mixture, a hybrid rice krispy treat, onto parchment paper. I thought I would get a version of our Rice Krispy Treat Lace Cookies. We ended up with a large format cloud cookie. The result is very close to a huge cereal based macaron. And that is exciting.

Years Past

June 16, 2015

June 16, 2007

June 16, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 16, 2016 at 08:04 PM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (1)

Water Burger

The butter burger is our signature. If you want the published recipe with pictures pick up our book, Maximum Flavor. In recent months we have taken another look at burger making. While thinking about burgers, I looked elsewhere for improvements. I borrowed an idea from Chinese dumpling makers who add water to their dumpling mixture for additional moisture and tenderness.

The first time I made a water burger I cowboyed up and added some water to my burger mixture. The results were moist, tender and supple burgers. The second time I made the water burger, I followed my initial cowboy instincts and created equally delicious results without using weights and measure. For the third time making these burgers, I pulled out my scales. I wanted to be able to consistently and constantly recreate and share this technique with others. As I weighed my meat and salt I thought about the amount of water I should and would add. I guessed 20% would be an excellent starting point. I added the water and made some burgers. I also made burgers without the addition of the water. These were my baseline burgers. I cooked these burgers smashed in an iron skillet. When the burgers were cooked I observed the meat and weighed the burgers. Then I tasted.

The water burgers were softer and not browned like the straight up burgers. There were very few caramelized bits of meat. Basically the water burger was a failure when I set out to duplicate and record the results. I knew when I was mixing that 20% water was too much. But it's quite hard to remove water from a burger. My gut, my cooking intuition, knew better than my analytical self. I scribbled in my notebook to revisit with substantially less water and left it alone.

Tonight I revisited the water burger. I left the scales away. I listened to my gut. I mixed what may have been 5-10% water into the meat. I seasoned the mixture with salt. I flattened the mixture into wide thin irregular patties. I grilled the burgers on high heat, flipping then only once and topping some of them with cheese.

The grilled burgers were moist and caramelized. The patties were tender and crushable with a clear beefy flavor. I will revisit and formally record what makes a delicious water burger. For now I leave the idea in your hands so you can Cowboy Up to the Water Burger.

Years Past

June 15, 2015

June 15, 2012

June 15, 2006

June 15, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 15, 2016 at 06:47 PM in Approach to Cooking, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

Leftover Short Ribs

...are just the right ingredient for fried rice.

Years Past

June 14, 2015

June 14, 2012

June 14, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 14, 2016 at 05:47 PM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mason Jar Meringue

A huge obstacle in my cooking is what to do with the spare parts. When making meringues we need egg whites. What the heck am I going to do with the egg yolks? The simplest solution is to use the whole eggs in the meringue. I wondered why we had never made whole egg egg meringues. I separated my eggs and adapted a sous vide meringue recipe that I picked up from Eric at Charcoal BYOB. I put the whites, sugar, salt, and citric acid in a mason jar. It was on me to figure out the egg yolks. I mixed them with sugar and lemon oil in a separate mason jar. I cooked both jars in a pot set at 150°F/ 65.5°C for 1.5 hours.

I removed the jars from the pot and poured the egg white mixture into a stand mixer. I needed to use a rubber spatula to scrape the sugar that settled in the bottom of the jar into the mixing bowl. I whipped the mixture for about 7 minutes, until semi-firm peaks formed. Then I transferred the whipped meringue to a clean mixing bowl. At this point I could have stopped and been thrilled with the delicious results. Instead I pushed forward.

I scraped the egg yolk mixture into the dirty mixing bowl from the stand mixer. Again I needed to scrape the settled sugar from the jar into the bowl. I whipped the yolk mixture for about 5 minutes until they formed thick ribbons. I jockeyed the bowl around the whisk attachment to help the whipping of the sugary yolk mixture. When the yolks were pale yellow and thick I poured them into the whipped egg whites and stirred them together.

The result is a decadent, creamy, sticky, whole-egg, lemon flavored meringue. It's true lemon meringue. It has a round flavor and richness on the palate that simply melts away on your tongue.

It toasts up beautifully. In my next version I will work on pushing the whipping even further to see how high and tight I can make the finished meringue. We can change up the flavors and see how it works as a cookie or as a pie topping, turn it into frosting or fold it into an angel food batter, make pavlovas or Baked Alaskas. The possibilities are endless.

Years Past

June 13, 2015

June 13, 2012

June 13, 2008

June 13, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 13, 2016 at 03:07 PM in Approach to Cooking, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (5)

Fishing

Sometimes writing is like fishing. You cast your line over and over and have faith that eventually something will bite. It can be hard to feel that spark of creativity every single day and find new ideas to share. If you believe that the vision will come, eventually images will form, and your imagination will take off. I love fishing. I tend to have relatively good luck with a hook and line. I may not always get the biggest or the most fish but it's a rare day when I don't manage to catch something. The trick is to appreciate the process and be thankful for the catch, whatever it may be. There is a zen-like pleasure in being on the water, feeling the breeze, hearing the seagulls, and being lulled by the crash of the waves as you throw your line out and reel it back in. Inspiration is always there, waiting to be found. You just have to let it find your line and bite down.

Years Past

June 12, 2015

June 12, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 12, 2016 at 09:03 PM in Food For Thoughts, Not Food Related | Permalink | Comments (0)

Strawberries in Custard

We all know strawberries and cream. We are equally familiar with strawberries coated in chocolate. In a recent workshop on hydrocolloids we explored the playful and delicious idea of coating amazing strawberries in a sweet cream custard. We made the custard with sweet cream, milk, sugar and salt. We omitted the traditional eggs and used iota and kappa carrageenan as our texturizers. The carrageenans allowed us to dip the cold strawberries into the hot custard and have it set around the fruit. The dipping takes practice. The key is dipping and letting the base set around the fruit and then dipping again. We repeated the process 4-5 times until the fruit had a quarter inch or so custard coating. In the photograph you can see a berry that lost its coating because it was left in the hot custard to long. The custard started peeling back off the fruit.

We refrigerated the strawberries to fully allow the custard to set. When it was set we had a sweet cream decadent coating around fully ripe berries.

Years Past

June 11, 2015

June 10, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 11, 2016 at 06:44 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, Food For Thoughts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Broccoli Rabe

Bitter broccoli rabe is a great example of a vegetable that is transformed by heat. It's sharp edges soften and it's flavor mellows. When cooked simply with olive oil and salt it becomes silky and tender and it's inherent sweetness comes to the fore balancing out the bitter notes. I find it utterly addictive.

Cooking it in the wood fired oven speeds up the process considerably. At 550° F. it takes very little time for the vegetable to soften and caramelize. Cooking it in a covered vessel concentrates it's juices and keeps everything underneath moist and delicious. The top gets crispy and crunchy and, even with the lid on, the flavor of smoke permeates the vegetables. It's a perfect side dish for pizza or roasted chicken or almost anything at all.

And if you happen to have some olives marinated with citrus zest and rosemary, it's never a bad thing to mix a few in and really take things to the next level. A good pantry will always serve you well.

Years Past

June 10, 2015

June 10, 2012

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 10, 2016 at 04:54 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (0)

Semolina Bucatini

Made with the new AEX5, Arcobaleno's pasta extruder for the home cook.

Simply glazed with butter, Parmigianno-Reggiano, and the cooking water.

Finished with a little freshly ground pepper, because good pasta needs very little adornment.

Years Past

June 9, 2015

June 9, 2012

June 9, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 09, 2016 at 06:44 PM in Approach to Cooking, At the Table, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (3)

Unexpected Roadblocks

...indicate that it's time to change directions. Go with the flow and see where it leads you.

You may find unexpected treasure.

Years Past

June 8, 2016

June 8, 2012

June 8, 2006

June 8, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 08, 2016 at 05:57 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, Beyond the Kitchen Doors | Permalink | Comments (0)

One More Reason To Get A Good Night's Sleep

A great Ted talk by Jeff Iliff explaining what happens in your brain after you go to sleep.

Years Past

June 7, 2015

June 7, 2012

June 7, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 07, 2016 at 04:36 PM in Beyond the Kitchen Doors, Food For Thoughts, Videos | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lemon and Olive Roasted Chicken

We do love our roast chicken. Though we seemed to have fallen in a bit of a rut. We love the technique of butterflying the chicken and roasting it at high heat on a bed of vegetables so we tend to make it that way all the time. I needed a slower method that would cook while I was at dance or gymnastics with Amaya and be almost done when I got home. So I decided to bake the chicken at a lower temperature in a cast iron pan with a lid. I salted the chicken in the morning and mid-afternoon I pulled it out of the fridge. This needed to be a one-pot dish so I tossed broccoli with some mixed olives that had been brined with lemon zest. I added a healthy dose of the brine and some salt to the vegetables and arranged them around the perimeter of my pan. I stuffed the chicken with lemon quarters and garlic cloves and then snuggled it into the center, breast side up. I covered the pan with the lid, which rested on top of the breast (I oiled the inside of the lid so it wouldn't stick), and remained slightly open due to the size of the chicken. It worked out nicely because it allowed for some air flow in the pan. I put it in the oven right before we left and it roasted it at 325°F. for about 90 minutes, perhaps slightly longer. When I got home the chicken was nicely cooked, juicy, and still a bit pale. I let it rest for 10-15 minutes and then gave it a quick hit under the broiler to brown the skin on the breast.

While the chicken was delicious, the real star of the show was the vegetables. The tender broccoli was richly seasoned, swimming in meat juices, savory, and tangy. The olives had their own deep flavor that released itself in my mouth as I slipped them from their pits and enjoyed their meaty texture. The sweet, soft garlic cloves were a nice counter balance to the more assertive flavor of the olives and everything worked beautifully with the chicken. It was a one pan dinner that will lend itself to endless permutations.

Years Past

June 6, 2015

June 6, 2012

June 6, 2008

June 6, 2007

June 6, 2006

June 6, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 06, 2016 at 04:52 PM in Approach to Cooking, At the Table, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ridiculously Addictive: White Chocolate Fruity Pebbles

3:1 ratio, melted white chocolate to Fruity Pebbles + 0.3% salt. Put everything in the food processor and pulse to bring it together. It's that easy and, just like that, I have a new culinary addiction.

Years Past

June 5, 2015

June 5, 2012

June 5, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 05, 2016 at 06:01 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (1)

School Garden

A few weeks ago Amaya's first grade class went to work in the school garden. They planted carrot seeds, lettuces and dug through the compost to identify worms and insects.

This past week they went back to the garden and she brought home a small bag of lettuces and one radish.

We made it into a small salad as part of her dinner that night and she savored every bite. Now we've got to find a way to move our home garden up the priority list (and get it started) so we can continue to feed her enthusiasm for growing and eating her own vegetables.

Years Past

June 4, 2015

June 4, 2012

June 4, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 04, 2016 at 07:30 PM in At the Table, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (0)

National Doughnut Day

A perfect dozen.

It's amazing to think that this time last year we had no plans to open a doughnut shop. I don't think the thought had even crossed our minds. We had considered many other ideas, a pizza place, a noodle shop, and an after school bakery, to name just a few, but not doughnuts. That all changed last August. We were driving down to PA for a visit (really to look at houses) and I asked Alex what he really wanted to do for our next project. I like to ask these questions when he's driving because I think that the divided attention leads to honest and unexpected answers. He paused for a minute and then said, "Doughnuts." A few days later we were visiting the Stockton Market and the manager Dawn, who we were friendly with, showed us a space that had just opened up. Curiosity Doughnuts opened there the first weekend in October and the rest is history.

Vanilla and Wild Hibiscus Doughnuts.

The shop is only open on Saturdays and Sundays. People often ask us if there's another location. Not yet. Part of the allure of the market is that it allows us to keep our consulting business and continue to do our writing. Of course being open two days a week actually translates into a five day work week, when you factor in shopping and prep. Alex makes every single doughnut himself right now and if we had more locations that wouldn't be possible. As both ends of our business are picking up, it's barely possible now. We may be looking for a doughnut apprentice soon. Alex gets a certain zen-like pleasure in the being the doughnut guy. The recipes have quietly evolved over the last months, small tweaks that many customers haven't noticed, but that make the doughnuts even better. It's a work in progress, as all things are, and we are enjoying the journey, even when things get bumpy.

Double Chocolate Doughnut, Vanilla Buttermilk Frozen Custard, Butterscotch, and sprinkles.

People also like to ask us if this is a pop-up. The answer is no. Pop-ups aren't really our style. Although now that I've written that, a pop-up is inevitable. Never say never and all that. I've found that phrase to be especially true in my life. We definitely discussed making and selling soft serve before opening the shop and perhaps an actual ice cream parlor in the future. For now we have one flavor, many sauces, and doughnut waffle cones. Doughnuts and custard are a killer combination and we're working on a few new tweaks for the summer.

Boston Cream Pie

Sadly we're not open today or this weekend. But we'll be back next Saturday, June 11, with doughnuts, frozen custard and fried chicken (at 12:00pm). In the meantime, go to your next favorite doughnut shop and indulge. Let them know how much you enjoy what they do. It's not easy making super-delicious doughnuts. We all do it because it's a labor of love. Happy Doughnut Day! From the crew at Curiosity Doughnuts.

Years Past

June 3, 2015

June 3, 2012

June 3, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 03, 2016 at 02:58 PM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Impromptu Pickles

Considering the amount of blogging we do here, it may come as a surprise to find out that only a small percentage of what we do ends on the website. Even after 10+ years I still don't think of the blog first when I'm cooking. Some days I simply put things together without thinking too much about it at all. Case in point, these pickles. After a lively debate about what to do with our cucumbers, we both forgot about them. They were cleaned and waiting in a large bowl in the back of the refrigerator, clearly visible whenever anyone opened the doors. Yet, somehow we both managed to not see them for almost a week. One day when I was cleaning out the fridge I finally registered the fact that the uncovered cucumbers were still in there, dying a slow death from dehydration. I pulled them out, discarded a few, and went to the workshop to locate some mason jars. Since we had half gallon jars I decided to chunk them up as Alex prefers, in the hopes that they would all fit in one. I layered the slices in the jar with salt, garlic cloves, black peppercorns, and crushed red pepper, and then filled jar up with filtered water. I figured that since I was making the pickles, they would be half-sours. I didn't weigh a thing.

When Alex came home and asked me how much salt was in the pickles, I shrugged and said several pinches. He was horrified, of course, and promptly opened up the jar to taste the brine. He shook his head, added more salt, and then proceeded to take care of the pickles, monitoring the fermentation, and opening the lid periodically and letting out the gases. They were properly bubbling withing 12 hours and I refrigerated them to slow things down at about 36 hours, give or take. They are going to be delicious in spite of my haphazard methods. It's just the way I cook. I love reading recipes but I rarely follow them. If I'm not working on a book (and even sometimes when I am) I am not so good about remembering to write things down. Fortunately Alex is very good about writing down his recipes (in a manner of speaking) and reminding me to write down mine. He knows that if he waits too long I will likely forget exactly what I've used and he tries to get a jump on things. So if you've ever wondered about something we've blogged about starting and never mentioned again, you can probably bet that I forgot to write it down. It's okay though, I always give you enough information to wing it. If you're not comfortable improvising, I can usually be persuaded to make it again and write down the recipe. Just let Alex know you're looking for it.

Years Past

June 2, 2015

June 2, 2012

June 2, 2008

June 2, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on June 02, 2016 at 03:43 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Mandoline

The weather is warm and my mandoline is getting a workout. From onions and cabbage to carrots and daikon, it is working overtime. There's nothing better to get tough vegetables sliced thin in a jiffy. I never used one until I worked in a professional kitchen. We didn't use the fancy French mandolines, we used the plastic Japanese Benriner mandolines and they are still my favorite. It was one of the first things I needed to get for myself, after my knives and my Peugot pepper mill. Remember when everyone had to have one of those on their stations? By the time someone gets a fancy stainless steel one set up, I'm halfway done with my prep. I don't need to buy a fancy spiralizer when I have the julienne blades to cut long threads in two different thickness. My mandoline is easy to store and easy to clean, all very important things in my kitchen. There is a mixture of red cabbage and carrots pictured above. It took less than 5 minutes to prep that salad for tonight. I added salt and apple cider vinegar and refrigerated it. Later I'll check the seasoning and add sliced green onions just before dinner. I can serve it with almost anything from lamb chops to hamburgers, adding fresh herbs to taste. The mandoline makes slicing vegetables easy and beautiful, an important thing when your child likes to consume all the colors of the rainbow. Admittedly I've got a few scrapes on my hand from the julienne blade because I hate gloves and guards, but that seems a small price to pay for the efficiency.

Years Past

June 1, 2015

June 1, 2012

June 1, 2006

June 1, 2005