Beef Jerky Hijinks

12th Feb 2008

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Sometimes you just have to start.  I have been wanting to make beef jerky for a while now, but had always stumbled on how I was to actually dry out the meat.  I don’t have a smoker, and it didn’t sound like any of the other methods were going to work.  But hey, I thought, cowboys did this; I can do this.  So I bought some lean beef, sliced it thinly, and coated it with some salt, onion...

Adventures in Homemade Bacon

Make your bacon at home.

8th Feb 2008

The bacon most of us know it is made from pork belly, but there are also variations made from other cuts, notably the cheeks and jowl, which makes guanciale --a porkier tasting, fattier cut that's a staple in properly-made Spaghetti alla Carbonara and Bucatinia alla Amatraciana . Hog jowls are difficult to find, though, especially because a butcher would probably need to order an entire he...

Crisp-Skinned Roast Chicken, via Baking Powder

6th Feb 2008

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Sometimes I can’t even follow my own train of thought.  I was buying some butcher's twine at a kitchen supply store because I figured it was time to learn how to truss a chicken.  I had skated around the issue for a year or so because Barbara Kafka had told me not to worry about it.  She said it was unnecessary and even detrimental to the cooking process.  But maybe that was just for her...

Fennel-Cured Salmon Part 2: Out From the Deep

4th Feb 2008

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It didn't look pretty.  After two days in the fridge, my fennel-cured salmon looked something like a disaster.  A lot of the liquid had somehow seeped out of my protective covering.  This worried me because that meant the brine didn't probably coat the fish during the cure.  It might not be done. How would I know if it worked?

Ruhlman said to give it a touch.  "The salmon should be fir...

Two Ways to Preserve Meyer Lemons While They''re Still in Season

1st Feb 2008

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One of nature’s gifts in winter is citrus.  While the tomatoes are mealy, the lettuces limp, and all of us hardly in the place to get excited about more root vegetables, our brightly colored friends fly in from warmer climes to shine a little light.  Citrus fruits become larger, juicier, and more fragrant during the winter months when their true season begins.

Among citrus fruits, Meyer lem...

Fennel-Cured Salmon

30th Jan 2008

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Sparked with inspiration by Blake’s duck proscuitto , I procured Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie and dug in.  Don’t let anyone fool you; it’s intimidating stuff.  Curing food is the exact opposite of the cooking I’ve become used to.  I love to take fresh ingredients and then cook them quickly, without much fuss.  This process, hopefully, highlights the good quality of i...

Welcome to Our New Design!

29th Jan 2008

The last couple weeks have been slow posting around here, and that's because we've been doing some much needed housekeeping--as you can probably see.  We've started from scratch with a brand-new design that we hope will prove to be cleaner, more pleasant, and above all, functional.

With only an XHTML/CSS learning book , a text-editing program, and a wonderful little thing called Bluep...

Linguine with Clams from the Babbo Kitchen, via Bill Buford

From his memoir Heat

24th Jan 2008

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My favorite passages from Bill Buford's Heat are set in the Babbo kitchen, when he describes with fear and awe the wonder that is a busy restaurant kitchen at dinnertime-- tickets flying, steam vaporizing, oil popping. Orders arrive faster than they can be made; you are perpetually behind. The heat, of course, is unbearable-- like a shimmering wall when you enter the kitchen. Sweat...

The Mystery of Salt-Packed Anchovies

21st Jan 2008

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Quality ranges considerably; the worst come in a brine or packed in oil (often rancid); the best anchovies tend to be packed in salt, are worth seeking out, and can be delicious by themselves.

- Michael Ruhlman, [ The Elements of Cooking A to Z ](Paupered Chef - Salt-Packed Anchovies )

On one of my last Brooklyn weekends before the big move to the Mid-West, I spent most of my time...

A Night of Broiled Pizzas So Hot, Things Shattered

18th Jan 2008

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What's more fun than a make-your-own-pizza party?  Not much.  My friend Austin was in town from Providence, Rhode Island, where he teaches Spanish, Latin, and mythology.  Often when we get together it's an excuse to do a lot of cooking.  Throughout college he would make Nick and me ridiculously good brunches with fresh chorizo, eggs, and breakfast potatoes, and occasionally expose us to hi...