IDEAS IN FOOD: Approach to Cooking

Braised Greens Grilled Cheese

I have never had a grilled cheese loaded with braised and tender greens. The bread was buttery and crisp. The cheese was melty, almost like a bechamel. The greens were tender and spiked with herbs. Sure, we have made kimchi reubens. But straight up tender cooked greens pressed in the sandwich have somehow escaped us. The sandwich was consumed hungrily at the bar at Tartine Manufactory. As I ate I wondered how many braised greens and cheese combinations we could begin exploring. The first, the iconic, broccoli and cheddar.

Years Past

May 20, 2018

May 20, 2017

May 20, 2016

May 20, 2015

May 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 May 20, 2019 at 08:02 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

Skewered Shrimp

Grilling individual shrimp is inconvenient. We finally picked up some skewers and have reaped the benefits. We loaded pairs of skewers with shrimp. We were able to grill them easily and consistently. We brushed them with Luchito butter, which found its way into the many nooks and crannies in them. They were sweet and tender, kissed with smoke and spice, and quickly devoured by all.

Years Past

May 19, 2018

May 19, 2017

May 19, 2016

May 19, 2015

May 19, 2012

May 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 May 19, 2019 at 05:42 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Luchito Butter

It took a delicious dinner out at Charcoal BYOB, where we had Luchito butter brushed shrimp and grits, to kick us into gear to make our own Luchito butter. We made ours with melted butter, soy sauce and Luchito. The result was well worth stealing the idea.

Years Past

May 18, 2018

May 18, 2017

May 18, 2016

May 18, 2015

May 18, 2012

May 18, 2006

May 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 May 18, 2019 at 06:15 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (2)

Nitrogen Frozen

Liquid nitrogen is a functional ingredient. What is functional is defined by the doer.

Years Past

May 17, 2018

May 17, 2017

May 17, 2016

May 17, 2015

May 17, 2012

May 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 May 17, 2019 at 06:18 PM in Approach to Cooking, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Angel Biscuit Babka

We layer the cuttings of our Angel biscuits and roll them into a sheet. We tri-fold the sheet and let the dough rest overnight. We roll the dough into a sheet, cover it with chocolate crumbs and and roll it into a log. We cut the log almost entirely in half and then twist the two pieces together. We roll the dough into a roulade and refrigerate it overnight. We unwrap the dough and slice it into babka biscuits. We let the dough rise at room temperature for 30 minutes and then fry the pieces. The result is the babka biscuit as a doughnut. It is moist, buttery, delicately crispy and piqued with chocolate. The trimmings have never tasted so good.

Years Past

May 16, 2018

May 16, 2017

May 16, 2016

May 16, 2015

May 16, 2012

May 16, 2009

May 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 May 16, 2019 at 03:07 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Truffello Mosaic

We have been playing with the delicious cheeses from MouCo Cheese Company. We decided to revisit the idea of the cheese mosaic with there Truffello cheese. The mosaic is a fantastic base to build upon. It also is a great way to manipulate cheese for evenly layering on toast or perhaps a grilled steak.

Years Past

May 15, 2015

May 15, 2012

May 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 May 15, 2019 at 07:28 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Importance of Sous Vide

Sous vide cooking brought awareness to the details in cooking. Sure we can dismiss sous vide as soul less and set it and forget it bag cookery. But that, like most monumental ideas, would be missing its impact on the evolution of cooking. Sous vide changed how we cook, really how we observer. Now we look at the impact of temperature and time, actual specifics in the process. Guess-tamations are no longer acceptable. Sous vide cooking initially required expensive equipment. This expense sparked innovation. Cooks developed many work arounds and alternative methods to observe and control temperatures to allow for consistent results. Cooks learned to take better notes. Cooks learned to ask questions. Cooks learned to share ideas and results.

Years Past

May 13, 2012

May 13, 2009

May 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 May 13, 2019 at 05:07 PM in Approach to Cooking, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mozzarella Tots

I actually don't eat many tater tots. But I am inspired by the idea of tots. We have made latka tots and corned beef hash tots. Last night we were having breakfast for dinner. I decided to totify the meal. As I looked at the tots I wondered why we hadn't made mozzarella stick tots. So I have a project to work on now.

Years Past

May 12, 2018

May 12, 2017

May 12, 2016

May 12, 2015

May 12, 2012

May 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 May 12, 2019 at 06:02 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Gooey Butter Cake v2

I tinker a lot. Today we put our new flexipans to work, making our newest version of our gooey doughnut butter cake. I pulled out some sugar and added buttermilk in its place. The confection is delicious. And it is sweet. Is a doughnut dessert that screams for a cup of coffee and a lake view. If you don't have a lake view the coffee and the cake will suffice.

Years Past

May 11, 2018

May 11, 2017

May 11, 2016

May 11, 2015

May 11, 2012

May 11, 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 May 11, 2019 at 07:15 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cheeseburger Quesadilla

Last night I had the brilliant idea of making cheeseburger quesadillas. We cooked tortilla size burgers and put them inside corn and flour tortillas with cheese. We served them with salsa, guacamole, ketchup and mustard. They were delicious and I was thrilled with my creation.

At four am this morning I was pumping gas and looked up.

Years Past

May 10, 2015

May 10, 2012

May 10, 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 May 10, 2019 at 06:49 PM in Approach to Cooking, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Potential in Crumbs

Crumb toppings allow for multiple textures. I wonder why we have not thought of blending crumb toppings to deliver a variety of flavors? Imagine a blueberry pie topped with a blend of sweet cream crumbs, maple syrup crumbs and freeze dried blueberry crumbs. Each flavor is impactful on its own and when they are blended the pie topping evolves.

Years Past

May 9, 2018

May 9, 2017

May 9, 2016

May 9, 2015

May 9, 2012

May 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 May 09, 2019 at 04:44 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Right Pan for the Job

I have been looking to make our doughnut gooey butter cake in individual forms. I finally found the right flexipan at JB Prince. The mold is a 4 inches in diameter and 3/4 of an inch deep. It looks to be the perfect size for us to produce the decadent confection. Years Past

May 8, 2018

May 8, 2017

May 8, 2016

May 8, 2015

May 8, 2012

May 8, 2007

May 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 May 08, 2019 at 05:30 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Panko Crusted Porterhouse

I mostly liberated the pork porterhouse from its T-bone. I used a rolling pin to pound the meat. I should have pounded the meat thinner. We breaded the chops with a traditional procedure. I regret that we did not smoke the panko first. We sauteed them in sunflower seed oil and topped them with a chopped salad: romaine, tomatoes, spicy olives, canned artichoke hearts, quick balsamic vinaigrette.

The salad made the chops. The t-bone kept the chops together and allowed us to cook porterhouses. But I'm not sure leaving the bone in place made the cooking better. The bone inhibited the shallow frying. I let the idea outweigh the results. Next time we will have a more informed process to follow.

Years Past

May 7, 2018

May 7, 2017

May 7, 2016

May 7, 2015

May 7, 2012

May 7, 2010

May 7, 2006

May 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 May 07, 2019 at 05:01 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Magic Shell

We started with our cookie magic shell as the model. Instead of cookies I used slow roasted day old doughnuts. The result was, as hoped, an intense fluid doughnut. I dipped a few strawberries in the mixture to see how it coated and set up.

Strawberries coated in doughnuts are delicious. The goal was not to be able to coat strawberries, but the potential is exciting. Doughnut magic shell is destined for the return of our frozen custard. In the short term, to balance my impatience, I have a few other ideas in the works to get it into peoples hands and mouths.

Years Past

May 6, 2018

May 6, 2017

May 6, 2016

May 6, 2015

May 6, 2012

May 6, 2010

May 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 May 06, 2019 at 05:14 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Angel Doughnuts and Honeycomb Crumbs

The pieces have come together. It took the iconic combination to allow us to create our own iconic doughnut creation. The Angel Doughnut is caramelized and lightly crisp on the outside. The interior is buttery and fluffy. The crumbs are honey and butter in sprinkle form. I'm sure we will develop a few more combinations with this doughnut base. But for today we are happily indulging in the results of tinkering.

Years Past

May 5, 2016

May 5, 2012

May 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 May 05, 2019 at 06:12 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Honeycomb Crumbs

Last year we explored setting honeycomb in white chocolate. The light airy comb was surrounded by white chocolate. It looked like nougat. We ended up chopping the blocks into pieces to sprinkle on doughnuts. The introduction of the Angel Doughnut reawakened my interest in honey as a doughnut topping. We pondered honey glaze and honey butter. It took me longer than I care to say to come back around to honeycomb. In practice the honeycomb-white chocolate was not functional. But if we processed the mixture, or the idea of the mixture, further and included shortbread we might be able to create an intensely flavorful and easily sprinkled crumb.

I combined equal parts honeycomb, white chocolate and shortbread in the food processor. I added 0.3% salt and pulverized the mixture into a fine crumb. The result was better than I hoped for. The honey flavor remained intense and was supported by the white chocolate and shortbread. While the crumb was designed for the Angel Doughnut, I believe it will find many new homes in doughnutland.

Years Past

May 4, 2018

May 4, 2017

May 4, 2016

May 4, 2015

May 4, 2012

May 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 May 04, 2019 at 05:46 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Parts and Pieces

Doughnut Parts

Angel (biscuit) Doughnut, Spiral, New Fashioned Apple Cider

Not Quite Vegan, Chocolate Yeasted, Super Cake

Curiosity Cruller, Vanilla Yeasted, PA Classic Potato

Doughnut Pieces

Doughnut Bread Pudding, Thumbprint, Cinnamon-Cider Stick, Potato Twist

Marble Yeasted, Beignets

Years Past

May 3, 2018

May 3, 2017

May 3, 2016

May 3, 2015

May 3, 2012

May 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 May 03, 2019 at 04:50 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Biscuit Beignets

When making doughnuts there are always trimmings. We fold the angel biscuit pieces together to roll and cut them into beignets. Biscuit beignets may be better than our originals. Hopefully we can get them paired with some fried chicken soon.

Years Past

May 2, 2018

May 2, 2017

May 2, 2016

May 2, 2015

May 2, 2014

May 2, 2013

May 2, 2012

May 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 May 02, 2019 at 03:58 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dogma Doughuts

When we began tinkering with angel biscuits for doughnutland I wanted to find a distinct name to differentiate the doughnut. Sure, Angel biscuits is distinctive. But biscuits at a doughnut shop? I was stuck on the angel. Angel quickly led me to pop culture and the Kevin Smith film Dogma. I am always up for an alliteration. I thought who wouldn't become hooked on the name dogma doughnuts. I ran my story by a few colleagues. The quick consensus was who the hell would get my connectivity created concoction. Call them Angel doughnuts and be done. The name dogma doughnuts didn't last long. But the story was well worth the mental meandering.

Years Past

May 1, 2018

May 1, 2017

May 1, 2016

May 1, 2015

May 1, 2012

May 1, 2006

May 1, 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 May 01, 2019 at 03:39 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Angel Biscuits

Angel biscuits have been on my to do list for years. I finally made the time to begin tinkering with them. What has interested me is that angel biscuits are leavened with baking powder and soda as well as with yeast. The potential for flavor development in the biscuit excites me. I also like the idea of adding layers to the leavened biscuit. If the tinkering progresses in the direction I am hoping, I look forward to seeing how Angels like being deep fried.

Years Past

April 30, 2012

April 30, 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 April 30, 2019 at 03:39 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Boston Cream Returns

It took way longer than I thought. We use our thumbprint style doughnut as the shell. We dress the shell with our vanilla-buttermilk glaze and a coating of chocolate glaze. We sprinkle our white chocolate pretzel crumbs over the top. The filling has evolved. Now we make a rich custard and lighten it with whipped cream. The filling crests the top of the doughnut, revealing a glimpse of the decadent indulgence.

Years Past

April 29, 2018

April 29, 2017

April 29, 2016

April 29, 2015

April 29, 2012

April 29, 2007

April 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 April 29, 2019 at 04:27 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vanilla and Chocolate Shortbread

While we still use roasted doughnuts for there own doughnut crumb, my shortbread fetish has bubbled over into doughnutland. We now use a base vanilla and chocolate shortbread for many of our other crumb toppings for the doughnuts. The shortbread is decadent and crunchy. It is flavorful canvas.

Years Past

April 28, 2018

April 28, 2017

April 28, 2016

April 28, 2015

April 28, 2012

April 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 April 28, 2019 at 04:46 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Reality of Pressure Cooking

We have been pressure cooker fanatics for years. We have stood on soap boxes promoting there efficiency and necessity in the kitchen. In Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work, we had the chapter on pressure cooking cut out. Thankfully Aki was able to weave much of the material back into the book. Most of the material she integrated revolved around using the pressure cooker for cooking broths. In Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change The Way You Cook we dove back into pressure cooking. A few examples of its functionality, at the time, were our pork belly and beans and sunflower seed risotto.

But as I have looked at pressure cooking and the results I noticed a pattern. A pattern that made the reasoning for utilizing it in a broth chapter and where foods cooked together could mask the final results. Pressure cooking allows for the great extraction of flavor. Yes, it allows for the tenderization of meats, vegetables, grains and more. But as a whole it is detrimental to cook meats as a fast braise in the cooker. The meats become tender and for the most part flavorless. Even utilizing the idea of a double boiler the end result is a concentrated meat extract, not a better braised meat.

Today our pressure cooker is now our broth maker.

Years Past

April 27, 2015

April 27, 2012

April 27, 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 April 27, 2019 at 04:18 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beef Seasoning

Resources are only useful when put to use. I often forget that point. Years ago, when we were writing Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work, we created our beef seasoning. It was inspired by the Iron Chef Battle where Peter Kelly seasoned his beef with brown sugar and salt. Our beef seasoning has been in our tool chest for years. But we rarely bring it out, especially in its measured proportions. Today I dove into our book and followed the recipe. I seasoned up 2 steaks and will cook them later. I am eager with anticipation, because the beef seasoning is magical. It elevates whatever it is put in contact with.

The beef seasoning is a simple arrangement of ingredients. But its impact is monumental. It, like most of our work, is useful when combined with something else.

Years Past

April 26, 2018

April 26, 2017

April 26, 2016

April 26, 2015

April 26, 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 April 26, 2019 at 04:23 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Draft Day Doughnuts 2019

The only way to really celebrate the official beginning of football season is with doughnuts. Draft day doughnuts are our own special holiday.

Years Past

April 25, 2018

April 25, 2017

April 25, 2016

April 25, 2015

April 25, 2014

April 25, 2013

April 25, 2012

April 25, 2011

April 25, 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

Posted on April 25, 2019 at 07:21 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, Curiosity Doughnuts, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chocolate Chess Pie

"I think you've made the perfect pie." Rare words from my husband, especially when we're discussing a chocolate pie. I know he meant them because this pie was gone in just a couple of days. I can't even take credit for the recipe. I was researching chocolate chess pies and I came across this Double Chocolate Chess Pie from Virginia Willis. It was one of the only recipes that didn't use evaporated milk. I kept reading recipes that called for 3-4 tablespoons of cocoa and I just knew they couldn't possibly have enough chocolate flavor. This one adds 1.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips and that was the difference I was looking for.

I used my own all butter pie crust (in Maximum Flavor & Gluten Free Flour Power) and blind baked it at 350°F for 40 minutes before using her filling. The only change I made was upping the salt to 1/3 teaspoon of fine sea salt and that pie was delicious. This was not surprising because Virginia Willis is a class act, but it was unusual because I am a compulsive tinkerer. There was a delicate brownie-like crust on top of a creamy chocolate filling and a crisp pie crust underneath. We served it with lightly sweetened whipped cream and nothing more was needed.

Years Past

April 17, 2018

April 17, 2017

April 17, 2016

April 17, 2015

April 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 April 17, 2019 at 03:48 PM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chili Pizza

Since chili topped spaghetti is a thing, we figured we might as well test out its viability on a pizza. Turns our it too should be a thing.

Years Past

April 8, 2018

April 8, 2017

April 8, 2016

April 8, 2015

April 8, 2012

April 8, 2005

April 8, 2005 (2)

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 April 08, 2019 at 06:46 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Impromptu Pizza | Permalink | Comments (1)

Motivation v2

It started here.

Which led directly to our interpretation, thanks to the super talented Airlie Anderson.

Years Past

April 6, 2018

April 6, 2017

April 6, 2016

April 6, 2015

April 6, 2012

April 6, 2006

April 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 April 06, 2019 at 06:17 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Accidentally Over The Top

Life is full of happy accidents. Like putting white chocolate chips into a slowly baked shortbread recipe and having them caramelize resulting in over the top, super delicious cookies.

Years Past

March 5, 2018

April 5, 2017

April 5, 2016

April 5, 2015

April 5, 2012

April 5, 2006

April 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 April 05, 2019 at 06:35 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (1)

Lemon Filled v1

We have occasionally served a filled doughnut. We have always added the filling to the doughnut, like most doughnut shops, after the frying. I am fixated on changing that. I want to fry a filled doughnut. Today we accomplished that. We filled the doughnut with lemon custard and closed it like a calzone or an empanada. We discovered that frying a filled doughnut takes a much longer time to cook the interior dough. The long fry time gives me some hesitation. It adds an element of inefficiency to my already inefficient doughnut chaos. But the result is delicious. We shall continue to tinker with and produce small amounts at the shop. As we practice our process, hopefully we will gain some efficiency.

Years Past

April 4, 2015

April 4 2012

April 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 April 04, 2019 at 06:58 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Whole Egg Custard

An egg white is 87% water. That's a lot. So when I see recipes that use only egg yolks and then add additional water or perhaps liquid dairy, I quickly began making rough calculated adjustments. Today we were playing with the lemon custard from our friend Stella's book. She uses yolks and then adds water. I treated whites as pure water and adjusted her recipe to accommodate my changes. The custard cooked up beautifully and no whites were wasted. (In her recipe she uses her whites for the meringue in her lemon meringue pie. I did not need to make meringue. I needed a decadent lemon pie filling.)

Next time you contemplate making a custard try using the whole egg.

Years Past

April 3, 2018

April 3, 2017

April 3, 2016

April 3, 2015

April 3, 2012

April 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 April 03, 2019 at 06:02 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spiralize

The spiral doughnuts have been, like everything we do, a work in progress. The idea for turning our no-knead danish dough into a doughnut was sparked by the Caddy Shack line, "a doughnut without a hole is a danish." They are a result of three important driving forces: inspiration, paying attention to our observations, and doing the work.

Years Past

April 1, 2015

April 1, 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 April 01, 2019 at 06:54 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thermometers Lie

When the thermometer says 375°F and the biegnets go up in smoke in their normal fry time, something is amiss. My first response was to question my dough. Did I make something wrong? It didn't occur to me that the infrared thermometer could be off. I fried another single doughnut, a different dough, and it too went up in smoke quickly. Only then did I begin to question the thermometer. I shut the heat off and began searching the kitchen for a second thermometer. I was alone, prepping in a strange kitchen, cooking doughnuts in a pot on the stove.

I finally got relief when another chef showed up with a thermometer in their kit. There thermometer registered 475°F. I had the answer to my burnt biegnets. I added additional oil to the pot to cool it down and waited. When the oil reached 375°F I was off to the races.

I re-learned a lesson I thought I knew quite well. Travel with a back up thermometer. Because not all thermometers tell the truth.

Years Past

March 30, 2018

March 30, 2017

March 30 2016

March 30, 2015

March 30, 2012

March 30, 2009

March 30, 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 March 30, 2019 at 05:51 PM in Approach to Cooking, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Power of Practice

We learn to see with practice. We see the successes and failures. We see what works and what doesn't. Practice is a time to try, test and explore. It is the place where failure opens doors.

As we practice questions emerge. The biggest challenge I face daily is how to practice better? Are there steps I could be taking? Are there motions I could be eliminating? Are there questions I should be asking?

And as I looked to understand practice I came across these words:

"You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail." -- Charlie Parker (1920-1955) Jazz musician

I think we often forget the first step. The learning. In order to excel, we must be willing to learn. Basics become great through our practice.

Years Past

March 29, 2018

March 29, 2017

March 29, 2016

March 29, 2015

March 29, 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 March 29, 2019 at 05:28 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Invest in Ordinary

Years Past

March 26, 2018

March 26, 2017

March 26, 2016

March 26, 2015

March 26, 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 March 26, 2019 at 07:37 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, Beyond the Kitchen Doors, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Getting to Good

Years Past

March 25, 2018

March 25, 2017

March 25, 2016

March 25, 2015

March 25, 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 March 25, 2019 at 06:37 PM in Approach to Cooking, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cinnamon Shortbread Crust

Take your favorite pie crust recipe (ours is in both Maximum Flavor and Gluten Free Flour Power) and add 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Then roll out your dough in shortbread crumbs. It's that simple. We're going to use it for the next batch of strawberry pie but it would be equally good with lemon cream pie or banana cream pie or custard pie...hmmm maybe I'll rethink that strawberry filling.

Years Past

March 23, 2018

March 23, 2017

March 23, 2016

March 23, 2015

March 23, 2012

March 23, 2010

March 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 March 23, 2019 at 05:10 PM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spring

It's the first strawberry pie of the season. Spring is definitely here.

Years Past

March 22, 2018

March 22, 2017

March 22, 2016

March 22, 2015

March 22, 2012

March 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 March 22, 2019 at 05:18 PM in Approach to Cooking, At the Table | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two Lime Pie

I was making a lime pie for my mother in law's birthday when Alex wandered into the kitchen. He was watching me make the filling for the baked curd and thought it looked a little bit skimpy.

Then as we debated toppings for the pie he suggested that I adapt my lemon cream pie filling and use it to top the baked lime base, essentially bringing two pies together as one. It worked beautifully with the graham cracker rolled pie crust. The bottom layer was firmer and more intense with a kiss of ginger to highlight the lime, while the top layer was ethereal and bright with a hint of vanilla.

I think my ratio was a bit off and I need a little more of the bottom layer to balance the top, but that's an easy fix. The pie was a huge success and it's making me think about ways to bring more flavor to what I put on top of a pie or a cake or whatever else I happen to be creating.

Years Past

March 21, 2018

March 21, 2017

March 21, 2016

March 21, 2015

March 21, 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 March 21, 2019 at 03:57 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (3)

Kimchi and Coleslaw

A number of years ago we made creamy kimchi. It was delicious. It was great with our hot dogs. But it was not coleslaw and was not kimchi. As a hybrid and for the time it was amazing. But somehow I knew that kimchi and coleslaw were great together but would taste best still in their original forms. In our recent corned beef and cabbage feast we made reubens with both coleslaw and kimchi. The two remained separate and blended together. Bites were varied. The kimchi would dominate one bite, the coleslaw would cool another bite. And together they were a robust version of our creamy kimchi.

Years Past

March 19, 2018

March 19, 2017

March 19, 2016

March 19, 2015

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 March 19, 2019 at 05:06 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Corned Beef and Cabbage

The tradition is corned beef and cabbage. The twist was eating in the style of areuben. We made the sandwiches with either corned beef or pastrami and added kimchi, cole slaw, Swiss cheese and mustard before grilling them into oozy, melty, crunchy goodness for St. Patty's day. And just like that, a new tradition was born.

Years Past

March 18, 2018

March 18, 2017

March 18, 2016

March 18, 2015

March 18, 2012

March 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 March 18, 2019 at 06:52 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Graham Cracker Roll

Alex is not a fan of graham cracker pie crusts and always complains when I make one. In The New Pie: Modern Techniques For The Classic American Dessert, they roll a pie crust in graham cracker crumbs to make key lime pie. When we saw it, we were both struck by the simplicity and the possibilities. It was a total a-ha! moment here. I used it to make a Two Lime Pie for someone's birthday here and we both loved the way it worked out. The crumbs added texture and flavor to the finished pie dough, making it more crunchy on the outside and seemingly more tender inside the crust. Now we are contemplating the many different kinds of crumbs we can use to make pie dough. We'll never have to deal with a crumbly crumb crust again.

Years Past

March 17, 2018

March 17, 2017

March 17, 2016

March 17, 2015

March 17, 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 March 17, 2019 at 04:01 PM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's Cruller Time, Our Process

We make our doughnuts in small recipes. I haven't been happy with how the recipes have scaled. So we make them in the size that makes them great. I increase efficiency by scaling all the ingredients into their steps. It also helps limit measuring errors as we can check the ingredients step by step. By getting the scaling done in one step the process of cooking becomes smooth and efficient.

Years Past

March 16, 2018

M arch 16, 2017

March 16, 2016

March 16, 2015

March 16, 2014

March 16, 2013

March 16, 2012

March 16, 2011

March 16, 2011 (2)

March 16, 2011 (3)

March 16, 2010

March 16, 2009

March 16, 2009 (2)

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 March 16, 2019 at 07:03 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kimchi in Progress

Salted Cabbage: Seasoning, Tenderizing and Kickstarting Fermentation

Rinsed Cabbage and Scallions

Added Kimchi Marinade

Vacuum Sealed For Dispersion and Simple Fermentation

Years Past

March 12, 2018

March 12, 2017

March 12, 2016

March 12, 2015

March 12, 2014

March 12, 2013

March 12, 2012

March 12, 2011

March 12, 2010

March 12, 2009

March 12, 2008

March 12, 2008 (2)

March 12,2007

March 12, 2007 (2)

March 12, 2006

March 12, 2005

March 12, 2005 (2)

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 March 12, 2019 at 03:39 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (3)

Shrimp Rice

Sometimes you stumble across some shrimp that are so beautiful that you know that you have to use every part of them. So, I took the shells and made a stock infuse with ginger, garlic, tamari, and sake. We began with the idea of shrimp and artichokes. Then I made the stock and rice seemed like a natural accompaniment. In the end we used most of the stock to make the rice and took the remainder to make buerre monte to poach the shrimp and artichokes. We finished the stew with fresh parsley and scallions. I wish I could show you the final results but we took advantage of the moment and simply enjoyed them. Think of this as a very loose recipe, my favorite kind, because you take the ideas and run with whatever you have in your own kitchen.

Years Past

March 11, 2018

March 11, 2017

March 11, 2016

March 11, 2015

March 11, 2012

March 11, 2006

March 11, 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 March 11, 2019 at 04:04 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (1)

Potato Twists

When we introduced the potato doughnut to the shop we were faced with potato doughnut cuttings. To utilize the trim we stacked the dough into a ball and let it rest overnight. The following day we roll it into a six inch wide strip. We cut the strip into sticks and then cut the strip three quarters of the way through. We twist the pieces together and then press the ends together. We fry the twists and glaze them with our vanilla-buttermilk glaze. Most recently we topped the twists with strawberry crumbs though we have a number of other twists up our sleeves for the coming weeks.

Years Past

March 10, 2018

March 10, 2017

March 10, 2016

March 10, 2015

March 10, 2012

March 10, 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 March 10, 2019 at 06:10 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fried Angel Hair Parm

There are certain meals that are, by necessity, a solitary pleasure. This is one of them. It requires leftover angel hair pasta in red sauce. This no easy feat in our house because Amaya loves her angel hair and usually has dibs on any leftovers. In this case, Alex went to bed early so there was an extra portion in the pot that I was able to hide away in the corner of the fridge. The next day the pasta was seared in a non-stick saute pan, flipped, covered with mozzarella cheese and broiled until it was browned and bubbly. The leftover noodles have a certain bouncy resiliency, in spite of their softness. This is interspersed with crunchy bits, gooey cheesey goodness, and the occasional spark from a red pepper flake. It is comfort food of the highest order and not often indulged in. That may be part of what makes it taste so good.

Years Past

March 9, 2015

March 9, 2012

March 9, 2009