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…
Singapore Crab Cakes with Sweet and Tangy Red Chile Sauce
I am a sucker for the words “street food.” They call to mind the most exciting and delectable experiences: sizzling fish tacos handed down from the window of a brightly painted truck; smoky grilled meat sticky with spicy lemongrass-chile sauce; colorful drinks in plastic bags, skewered with straws for sipping; steaming bowls of soup slurped…
The Best, Easiest French Fries at Home!
These French fries are so exciting. We came across the instructions in a video (embedded below) for the online food science class we’re taking. Basically, Dan Souza from America’s Test Kitchen proposes a simpler method than going through the trouble of double-frying French fries – the classic method to make fries that are creamily cooked…
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…
Luxurious Four-Ingredient Browned Cauliflower Soup
I am inordinately proud of this soup. It is perfect Unfussy Epicure fare – extremely simple to make and stunningly delicious. It’s just a variation on roasted cauliflower soup, a cold-weather staple that I’ve made with curry, with potatoes, with garlic. But this variation is so easy, so elegant, and makes such an incredible difference…
The Science of Cooking: Harvard EdX, Week 3 (Ice Cream Lab)
You may have noticed that it’s been more than a week since I posted about Week 2 of the food science course. Well, there was a grading glitch, so they pushed everything back two weeks, and with Christmas and all, it was very easy to take them up on their offer to be lazy. But…
Juicing: Cucumbers and Chard and Kiwi, Oh My!
Clockwise from top left: Taboulleh Juice, Kiwi-Chard, Golden Rule, Cucumber Mojito, Heart Beet This has been a very difficult autumn. Actually, it was a pretty rough summer too. As you know if you read my mid-July post on congee, I’ve been having trouble swallowing all year. Much longer than that, actually, but this year it’s gotten…
Slow-Braised Green Beans with Tomato
We’ve been done a disservice by the cult of al dente vegetables. While there’s no doubt that many vegetables are at their best very lightly cooked – all types of peas spring to mind – the idea that every veggie is at its best steamed for 30 seconds is as misguided as the thought that…
Pasta with Marcella Hazan’s Simple Tomato-Butter Sauce
This is not going to be my most original post, because it seems like every food blogger has, at some point, posted Marcella Hazan’s recipe for tomato-butter sauce. It’s not hard to see why, even before you taste it: It has three ingredients. You throw them in a pan and let them simmer. If it’s…
Eating ABQ: Pop Fizz
Is it wishful thinking, or is there a whiff of fall in the air? There’s something in the sound of the wind, an autumnal rustling. If you look closely, a few trees are sporting clumps of yellow leaves. And green chile is starting to appear in CSA baskets and at the farmer’s market. Just one…