I don’t know who gave me my first recommendation for Ajiaco. My friend Carlos, who is originally from Colombia, was in the crowded church social hall after services when someone slipped a business card for the bistro into his hand. “I don’t even know who it was,” he laughed as I examined the mysterious card…
Easy Oven-Roasted Brown Sugar Bacon
I love bacon. It’s hard not to. Sweet, smoky, salty, chewy, crisp, rich… Good bacon hits on all cylinders. But I’ve always considered it a pain to cook. Standing over a skillet, laboriously flipping each floppy strip, grease spattering everywhere – even if you’re using a splatter screen, because you can’t flip without removing it….
Spam Ramen, or Rescuing a Terrible Recipe
Cooking has been my passion since college. For more than twenty years I’ve spent a huge amount of my time reading cookbooks, trying recipes, learning methods, combining ingredients. I’ve gotten good at tasting “in my head,” having a pretty good idea of what a recipe will taste like before I try it. Usually I can…
Braised and Grilled Beef Short Ribs with Sticky, Spicy Beer BBQ Sauce
Last week, I was suddenly possessed by the need to make the Sticky, Spicy Beer BBQ Sauce I blogged about almost exactly one year ago. I grabbed a can of Santa Fe Brewing Company Imperial Java Stout (which we always have on hand because of its long standing as one of Arne’s very favorite beers) and…
The Science of Cooking: Harvard EdX, Weeks 4 & 5 (Ceviche Lab)
Week 4 of our food science course focused on elasticity in food, mostly in candy-making and cooking meat. The candy-making part focused on Bill Yosses, the White House pastry chef. There were six videos of Yosses making various things, including strudel, a blown sugar “glass” apple, and an over-the-top dessert that I assume is the…
Sticky, Spicy Beer BBQ Sauce with bonus recipe: Perfect Baby Back Ribs
I’m sort of a barbecue sauce fanatic. Though we skipped it this year because last year’s entry line was hours long, we love to attend the annual Fiery Foods Show, paying special attention to barbecue sauces. And that’s a lot of barbecue sauces – enough that the official name of the event is “National Fiery…
Cuts of Beef Infographic
Cuts of Beef infographic by visually. I enjoyed this little infographic and thought I’d share it with you. I could have used it the other day when Arne asked me where the tri-tip came from. I thought it was a sirloin – and I was right! The cooking methods icons seem like a particularly helpful…