I saw Michael Ruhlman, the food author and Iron Chef judge, on Saturday at the Cleveland Heights Borders. He was discussing his new book The Elements of Cooking. He’s a bit more laid back in person than on television, but that’s probably because, well, most of us would act a bit differenty in front of a camera. That said, his drive to get people to understand the “fundamentals of cooking” (a phrase he uttered around four times), finesse, etc. is just as salient in person as in his most recent book or on television. He gave an “extra condensed” version of cooking basics in response to a question a woman had on how to cook with only a small apartment and an electric range. He essentially said to salt liberally, frequently and as far in advance of cooking as possible; and to sauté on very high heat with a sturdy pan (not a nonstick one) for … continue reading
Monthly Archives: November 2007
I took Junior to the Loretta Paganini School of Cooking today for a pizza making class. Sarah was originally going to take him, but she wasn’t feeling well today. Junior and I both really enjoyed it. The instructor, Annie ‘B,’ was really good with both the kids and the adults. We made pizza, braided bread and salad. Junior did a good percentage of the mixing and kneading of the dough as well as the assembling of the pizza, salad and bread. The salad was so good–complete with balsamic dressing, homemade croutons and cheese–that Junior even had some of it. The pizza was excellent as well. Annie recommended preheating the oven with an upside-down cookie sheet and then placing the pizza on another sheet on top of the preheated one. This allows a lot of the stored heat under the cookie sheet to conduct to the pizza, which makes it rise more (apparently most of … continue reading
I made blueberry bran muffins today. I am perturbed by the “either-or” fallacy of food in our culture. Many people classify food as either high-fat trash or health food. Both leave me feeling queasy and unsatisfied, albeit for different reasons. This is why I enjoy the recipe I made tonight. It has plenty of fat and plenty of fiber, and consquently tastes very good, especially the combination of molasses and blueberries. Our four year-old son loves these. And unlike Jessica Seinfeld’s “stealth” insertion of certain foods–see Mimi Sheraton’s excellent critique of Seinfeld’s book at Slate.com–the muffins actually taste like bran.
Below is Nancy Rommelman’s recipe, halved as most of us don’t have 12 large muffin cups. I used light sour cream and oat bran (what I happened to have on hand) and they turned out fine.
1 cup sour cream
1 egg plus one egg white
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark unsulphered molasses (not … continue reading
Today we got a sandwich from Mr. Brisket for lunch. Mr. Brisket is a small butcher and sandwich place on South Taylor road in Cleveland Heights. The storefront can be easy to miss. We have lived in Cleveland Heights for numerous years, but had not heard about it until earlier this year.
We got our usual, corned beef on rye with Swiss and spicy mustard. The corned beef is piled high and is not too fatty but really full of flavor. The price is also great: on Mondays most deli sandwiches are only $5.00 with another purchase (pop, chips, etc). They shave the meat fresh while you wait.
Mr. Brisket himself is almost always in the shop and the service is always fast and very friendly. So if you are ever in the mood for a great corned beef sandwich stop by Mr. Brisket!
I made Alton Brown’s recipe for soft pretzels today (reprinted below) which was fairly easy and turned out well. I don’t think I’d ever make yeast breads if it weren’t for our stand mixer–it’s fun to watch the dough hook in action and think about the labor saved.
I used two half packages of yeast from the fridge, one bread yeast and one champagne yeast (from a mostly failed attempt at brewing root beer), which actually might have made the flavor more complex. I also used kosher salt rather than pretzel salt for sprinking.
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 package active dry yeast22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted Vegetable oil, for pan 10 cups water 2/3 cup baking soda 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water Pretzel salt
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand … continue reading
Sarah: I loved these pretzels. They were hands down the very best pretzels I had ever had. I was skeptical at first because Sol had trouble getting the yeast to start working, but after one bite I was won over. I loved them because they have a complex flavor and were yeasty and buttery with a really nice light texture.
Junior: He said they were good; however, he ate about half of one pretzel. He assisted Sol in the pretzel making by helping brush the egg yolks on and had a lot of fun watching his dad cook.… continue reading
Welcome to our blog! We plan to use our blog to report on recipes that we cook, restaurants that we visit and miscellaneous thoughts on food. We will also include our four year old son’s opinions on our food adventures. Enjoy!… continue reading