Before this point in my life--some 24 years in--I’d never willingly eaten cauliflower. Sure, it'd been sneaked into some of my dishes. But I know for a fact that it has not played an integral role in any dish I’ve ever made. A quick scan of our directory reveals only 1 mention of its name, and that was for a curried cauliflower dish that we didn’t even cook! One of Blake’s form...
On my way home from work every day, I walk down Lexington Avenue and risk the smell, squeeze, and auditory onslaught that is the Grand Central station subway stop. I never get to see the beautiful, soaring interior of the actual terminal , which looks like a starry night's sky. No. Only the passage where everyone else shoves into this awful, grubby stairway under a Strawberry clothing...
I eat a lot of tacos. I keep a pack of corn tortillas around at all times. Thanks to folks like Rick Bayless, I’ve even branched out to mushroom and swiss chard tacos, huevos rancheros, shrimp, and the granddaddy of them all, our very own Fish Tacos . Glorious, ethereal fish tacos.
This is all rather strange coming from someone who only ate hard shell tacos for the first 16-17 years...
We don't usually have hot dogs on Sunday night. I've got nothing against the sausages, but Sunday night is usually dedicated to my more adventurous cooking escapades. You know, Shrimp Etouffee, and other meals that take hours and hours. But tonight was going to be different. We needed some time, so we planned ahead and got perhaps the easiest comfort food to prepare.
Why such a hurry? ...
I wondered often about what I'd have to give up, culinary speaking, when I moved from New York to Ohio, but most my fears have proved to be unwarranted. There is a fantastic farmer’s market and utterly divine regional specalities (try Jeni's ice cream!). But fish has been hard. Most of the stuff in grocery stores looks decent, but it has been previously frozen and thawed at the store....
Part of the reason I bought a wok in the first place was because I read the excellent, thorough, and inspiring post at Chez Pim called "Pad Thai for Beginners." It made a mysterious dish of the takeout world suddenly, approachably attainable. Every step was lovingly explained, each ingredient inspected. Pad Thai could be mine.
With a wok bought, seasoned, and oiled , I set off...
Usually, when you're buying cookware, the rule is this: spend more for better quality. Sure, those big boxed sets of cheap, thin pots and pans at IKEA or Target are tempting, in that pre-packaged, one-stop-shop sort of way: but how good can you really do with pots and pans that average out to $5 a piece? Your sauces will burn, your food will stick, you'll be unable to simmer anything becau...
I just watched Emeril make shrimp etouffee in about 10 minutes. I’m sure some of that time was saved thanks to the precut vegetables, pre-made stock, and carefully placed commercial breaks. But it was still a little disconcerting to see him whip up a slow moving dish with such manic energy. He made it look quick and easy, which can't be said about this one. Not only does this version...
Ever since I started reading about "raw" milk, I've wanted to try it. Illegal in New York and most states, raw milk has a strange mystique about it: proponents claim that unpasteurized milk has remarkable health benefits , is drinkable by even the most lactose intolerant people , and tastes twice as good as the milk you're used to. Once you drink your milk raw, they say, you'll begi...
A glistening can of Busch doesn’t excite many culinary possibilities in my mind. Had we not been tempted by fate, that sad can of piss-beer probably would have sat undisturbed in the fridge for a long, long time. But the events were right for a breakthrough. I feel safe in saying that this little can of beer fulfilled its highest culinary possibility.
It was the last thing I expected to...
Blake and Nick live in Chicago and have written for The Paupered Chef and other publications since 2006.
