Category Archives: Projects

Madhur Jaffrey’s Smoky Eggplant (For the Graffi White Pinot Noir)

Or, Let baigans be baigans. I’ve got another wine to pair with food for Raffi and Margaret over at Tuscany Distributors.  This week, it’s the Graffi white Pinot Noir, which has a pleasant, apple-y taste and scent, and a nice crispness when we drank it at about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which is maybe 20 minutesContinue reading “Madhur Jaffrey’s Smoky Eggplant (For the Graffi White Pinot Noir)”

Aioli Chicken (for the Bonacchi Chianti Borgo Antico)

A quick procedural note: this entry will begin a series of recipes commissioned by my friends Margaret and Raffi, who run the Ohio arm of an Italian wine distribution company.  They gave me and Carolyn a rather staggering quantity of wine, and in return, I’m going to write a series of recipes that pair eachContinue reading “Aioli Chicken (for the Bonacchi Chianti Borgo Antico)”

Mushroom Powder

And its multifarious uses! I adore mushrooms.  I love shiitakes stir-fried with strips of flank steak, I love the earthy funk of fresh morels in cream sauce, I love porcini-and-pea risotto – I even love the unjustly-maligned white button mushroom (which is, you may not be aware, the exact same thing as a brown criminiContinue reading “Mushroom Powder”

Improv Dinner I

It didn’t start out this way. Adam and Zev wanted to have a cooking double-date with me and Carolyn.  I would, based on their prompting, come up with a couple of recipes based on their suggestions, and then we’d all hang out in the kitchen and cook together.  We’d judge whether or not I’d doneContinue reading “Improv Dinner I”

Essential Stovetop Mac and Cheese

So, with the onset of the colder months, like I’ve been saying, I think it’s time to hunker down.  The winds of winter are going to slice through the cracks between the wall and the windows, shred through your clothes, and freeze your blood, so you might as well fill yourself with food that keepsContinue reading “Essential Stovetop Mac and Cheese”

The Further I Slide

or, Moribund the Hamburgermeister One of the many marvelous things I acquired on the single greatest day of garage sale-hunting in American history was a meat grinder.  Not a hand-cranked jobbie, no: I’ve got one of those – an ancient piece of work from the 1930s.  I’m sure it works, but it’s more decorative thanContinue reading “The Further I Slide”

Spent-Grain Bread

Or, “Beer Bread, Minus The Beer”. Homebrewing is on the rise.  In 2010, according to a press release from the American Homebrewers’ Association, 82% of homebrew supply shops “saw an increase in sales of beginner [homebrew] kits”, which means, well, more folks are getting into the hobby. Last summer, I started homebrewing, also from aContinue reading “Spent-Grain Bread”

Fun with Coconuts.

(or, Pumping Up Your Mussels) You’ll never see a can of coconut milk for under a dollar.  Not the good kind.  -Sure, there’s the Roland Classic kind, which sometimes sells for 99 cents, but that brand has guar gum in it, which artificially thickens and emulsifies the coconut milk.  A sign of good coconut milk,Continue reading “Fun with Coconuts.”

That’s right, this IS a food blog.

I mean, not entirely.  But if I’m going to call it a food blog, then by crumpets I’d better start writing about food again. So, to the question of the week: What do you do with sixteen pounds of pork shoulder? The answer is: EVERYTHING.  But of course, freeze it. We’ll get into how IContinue reading “That’s right, this IS a food blog.”