Adventures in Doughnutland.
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Jacqueline An: An: To Eat: Recipes and Stories from a Vietnamese Family Kitchen
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Alexandra Stratou: Cooking with Loula: Greek Recipes from My Family to Yours
Meathead Goldwyn: Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling
« September 2019 | Main | November 2019 »
I dipped into the cellar for something special to sip while I wait for trick or treaters. This Le Moulin Rouge by Peter Michael is absolutely delicious, rich, vibrant and velvety. Age can be a very good thing.
Years Past
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
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From Stockton, NJ to Spring House, PA and, now, a second location in Tyson's Corner, VA. We're spreading the doughnut love to the very best of our ability.
Years Past
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I know, I know, it's an overused title. But it's a cliche for a reason. Food is comforting. When done well, it makes us feel good. I know we promised a pasta sauce with the leftover pork but I went in another direction. Alex is away so Amaya and I can indulge in foods he doesn't particularly care for. Case in point, simple boiled potatoes. Peeled, cut and boiled in salty water. I return them to the pan to dry them out and add a little more salt before putting them bowls. Amaya likes her meat and gravy on side so she can butter the potatoes, I like the everything on top so it soaks into the spuds. Either way it was delicious, comforting dinner. It's a good reminder of why leftovers are so important.
Years Past
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The form changes the results when the ingredients remain the same. Rigatura, from Arcobaleno, is a shape in the style of rigatoni with wider sloping ridges. We tested this smaller diameter rigatura. It's diameter is more like a ziti or penne. The wider ridges allow for sauce to flow and larger inclusions like soffrito to be captured in them. I think of it as a more delicate, in appearance, version of a rigatoni. We made these noodles with our recent adjustments: eliminating baking soda and using 0.5% salt. These noodles also cooked in 60 seconds for our ideal version of al dente.
Years Past
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
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Sometimes you just need breakfast cake, especially when organic raspberries just happen to be on sale.
*Adapted from this recipe. I used buttermilk, upped the salt to 1/2 teaspoon and added 1 teaspoon vanilla paste to the cake and a a pinch of salt and a pinch of cardamom to the topping.
Years Past
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
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We brined the hunk of boneless pork shoulder in allium infused apple cider for a couple of days. We patted it dry and nestled it on a bed of store bought, diced mirepoix that we seasoned with salt. We tucked the shoulder into a 300°F oven to roast. After an hour or so we added some chicken broth to the bottom of the pan to deglaze the vegetables roasting in rendered pork fat and juices. We flipped the shoulder 3 hours into the roasting and added some additional broth. The shoulder roasted for another two hours. The mirepoix braise-roasted in the broth and fat. The shoulder browned and transformed from tough to tender. We removed the shoulder, covered it, and let it rest for thirty minutes. Then Aki put it on a cutting board and surgically disassembled it. She removed and discarded large pockets of fat, sinew and gristle. (I was just going to hack up the meat, gristle, fat, sinew and not worry about a thing. Aki, thankfully, intervened.) She cut the meat into a large-ish dice and added it back to the decadent vegetables. We stirred the meat and coated it with the juicy soffrito. The meat and vegetables were rich, melting, and crush-worthy. We served half the shoulder soffrito as tacos. We reserved the other half for an otherworldly pasta sauce still to come.
Years Past
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
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Pasta is my distraction.
I am fascinated with the shapes we can extrude, the textures we can create and the flavors that we can transform all within a noodle. Today I was working with die 72-02, a new shape in the Arcobaleno catalog. It resembles a star with rounded edges. I modified our base pasta recipe, omitting baking soda and using 0.5% salt. Salt, in contolled amounts, has wonderfully beneficial attributes on the texture of noodles. The noodles formed beautifully and retained their shape through the cooking process. The stars cooked in one minute. The increased salt in the dough seemed to give the dough more resiliency with an excellent bite and chew.
Years Past
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
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As we prepare to open our new shop it occurred to me that in order to do better I must be better. I am not the easiest to deal with, because I am straightforward and wear my emotions on my sleeve, all of them. At the new space we whipped up a batch of Aki's chocolate chip cookies in order to deliver the warm cookie experience. We gave away the warm chocolate chip cookies to say thank you to those around us for being kind, helpful, and extremely patient.
Years Past
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
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We picked up some new dies from Arcobaleno. Can't wait to get them into action.
Years Past
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
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Fine dining has finally hit the canine world. Well, at least for those of us that don't actually cook for our dogs on a regular basis. Wellness has come out with "Bowl Toppers" marketed with the slogan "No more boring bowls!" and our dogs love them. It's genius. Sprinkle on some freeze dried crunchies or little tender bites and their dry food is suddenly magical again. It reminds me of my days in fine dining when there was a variety of small garnishes lined up on stations or at the pass to finish dishes just before they headed into the dining rooms. Little herb salads with delicate fried garlic bits, crunchy dehydrated vegetable salts, or a final drizzle of flavorful oil or sauce. It's these small touches that elevate the experience. Seeing the puppies reaction to the bowl toppers was great reminder that we can always reach for that extra something to make an everyday dish even better.
Years Past
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
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Wafer cookies are firmly in the category of things we do not make at home.They are a special treat because the good ones are hard to find. They are delicate and crisp with a soft, flavorful filling that reminds me of my childhood. They were a rare and special treat, partially because Auntie loved them and would hoard them when we happened to have some in the house. I was lucky to get my hands on one or two. I happily share them with Amaya. There's something so satisfying about introducing her to new treats. I love watching her face light up when she tries something new. Somehow they taste better when we eat them together. If Auntie were still here, I would bring her wafer cookies so we could share them too.
Years Past
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
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A great TED talk from Shawn Achor. We can all use a little more positivity in our lives.
Years Past
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
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I have finally come back to our potato rolls. This version I increased the heavy cream in the recipe and reduced the buttermilk. I pulled out some of the potato flakes and increased the salt. I brushed the exterior with whole milk. These adjustments created the potato roll I have been chasing. It has structure but is tender. It has a fine crumb and creamy texture. The roll is potato perfection. For now.
Years Past
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
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Everything bagels are seasoned from the outside in. The combination of onion, garlic, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, salt, and, occasionally, caraway seeds creates an extremely well rounded and savory bagel. We have explored using everything flavoring in everything from noodles to potatoes to curing salmon. We have been lax in using the everything bagel in its entirety. Today we started repairing our mistake. We cut up a few everything bagels and mixed them with mirepoix, cream cooked turkey soffrito, heavy cream, and stock. We roasted the stuffing underneath a chicken. The bagels were savory sponges that retained their texture while becoming pillowy, tender, and rich. The savory seasoning of the bagels added a depth to the stuffing and the texture of the bagels has me looking for many more opportunities to turn them into stuffing.
Years Past
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
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Make sure your whipped cream game is solid.
Years Past
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
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There was a time when I would have done my best to smooth out the tops of my marshmallows to make perfect squares. These days I embrace the swirl, it makes them prettier anyway.
Years Past
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...are meant to be eaten. When I saw these haunted houses online I knew we had to get one. Once Alex and I brought it home, we all agreed that we would enjoy looking at it for a little while and then we would eat it, rather than letting it sit on the counter until it died. Of course Amaya got the first bite. Let me tell you, haunted houses do taste better than regular old bars. Destruction and consumption go hand in hand...
Years Past
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We were thrilled to share our caramelized cream cooked eggs with Kristin Miglore, of Genius Recipe Fame, over at Food52. In conversation, she was able to get us to dive deeper into our thoughts as she asked about our process on the eggs, cream caramelized carrots, and potatoes. We discussed the technique's potential overall. She put together a brilliant video on the egg cooking process and mapped it out, step by step. Go check it out.
Years Past
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
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Without the question we have no direction.
Years Past
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
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Sometimes Alex will surprise me with a doughnut. It doesn't happen all the time--then it wouldn't be a surprise, but it always makes me happy. This is a strawberry-angel doughnut, one of my favorites. I took a couple of bites before I remembered to take a picture. There's something about the texture on this one. It's so soft and pillowy, your teeth just sink into it. After each bite I think I'm going to save the rest to share with Amaya, but it's impossible to keep from going back for just one more. Before I know it, it's gone. Probably a good thing that he just brought me one.
Years Past
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As we get closer to opening the new shop in Virginia, we have begun revisiting our fried chicken. It dawned on us that we really like chicken nuggets so perhaps we should entertain the idea. Our first run was using buttermilk brined chicken thighs, cut into nuggets, dredged in a blend of cornstarch and rice crumbs, and fried in sunflower seed oil. The first run proved to be an idea avalanche, the result of many first drafts. Besides a want to improve the breading it reminded us of our many staple condiments from cherry pepper caramel sauce to ginger-ketchup as necessary additions to fried chicken.
Years Past
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
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Adding a second shop is teaching us a lot about what we don't know. It's hard to toot your own horn and to reach out to people and ask for help. This new project has forced us to do both of those things, sometimes at the same time. It's helped us to own our accomplishments in a way that we may have shied away from in the past. We've never been big on bragging about our achievements but we've realized that acknowledging them can be empowering. It reminds us that even when things get tough we can push through and make things happen. We know that we can create magic because we've done it before. This is very helpful knowledge when we're chasing doughnut unicorns in Virginia and beyond...
Years Past
October 4, 2008
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
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Many years ago, when we were working at a private ranch, one of the chefs who worked in the employee kitchen came in from the dining room and threw her hands up in the air. "They're putting ranch dressing on the lasagna! They put it on everything. Even pizza!" She was horrified and we concurred. Now, apparently, putting ranch dressing on everything is so common that they're making it specifically for pizza. Who knew?
Years Past
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It's official. Curiosity Doughnuts will be opening in the new food hall in the new Whole Foods Market in Tyson's Corner, VA on October 30, 2019. We're going to start with the doughnuts and, once we've settled in, we'll bring back the famous fried chicken sandwich. It's going to be awesome (and a little bit crazy). So mark your calendars and if you're in the area, come and see us at our first official spin off location.
Years Past
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
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We revisited our caramelized cream cooking technique. Tonight we put a thick layer of cream in a saute pan and added boiled and smashed potatoes. We cooked the potatoes in the cream, letting it boil and evaporate. As the cream separated and broke the potatoes cooked in the fat and milk solids of the cream. The cream transformed into browned butter which the potatoes absorbed. The exterior of the potatoes were toasty and nutty and the insides were creamy and rich.
Years Past
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
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