I'm definitely not the first to point this out, but Chicago has some great food. You know, with all the high accolades for their inventive restaurants and classic comfort foods, and the fact that they are hosting this year's Top Chef , I have nothing new to add. It's just that over the past weekend Abby and I managed to fit more good food into our bellies than we had any right to do...
Time to play catchup. Blake has been on the forefront of this curing business for awhile now and I just couldn’t stand back while he was slicing off hunks of his own fresh bacon and duck prosciutto . I picked up a duck and a pork belly and got to work.
It might seem a little redundant to document two projects that Blake has already covered, but in all fairness, these are d...
About ten days after I hung a salt-cured duck breast in the vestibule of my garden apartment, wrapped in cheesecloth and suspended by kitchen string in a little tent of wooden dowel rods, I retrieved it, unwrapped it, and laid it on a cutting board in my kitchen. It was my first attempt at curing, my Duck Prosciutto .
The flesh had taken on a dark red, almost black color on the outside...
There are two kinds of cookbooks: some I buy and use, and others I buy and admire. I plan for the former, but end up doing the latter. I have cookbooks about offal , bread-making , and curing meat , but I’ve yet to order beef bones to roast . I have a copy of the River Cottage cookbook , which tells you how to deliver a lamb, dig for scallops, grow carrots, make bacon, and...
I should apologize before I begin, because what I write about Portland is no doubt going to sound like a tourist ad. After just a few days spent there, it became one of my favorite cities. It has a number of things on its side: proximity to the water; an industrial, scruffy charm; a relaxed, West Coast vibe; and above all, more than a couple world-class restaurants.
Hugo's , for example, i...
I was cleaning out my fridge, throwing away plastic bags full of blackened herbs and limp celery and muttering about how I felt wasteful, of course, but also uncreative. Why does the ability to look into the fridge and dream up recipes with what’s there elude me? I'm a failure and a hack. Why even cook anymore? I should just order takeout and go to sleep.
But in the midst of this crisis...
It was a terrifying moment: The bottom of my pan was lined with raw pig skin, on top of which were alternating layers of beans, the meat from pig knuckles, duck confit, sausages, a paste made of blended onions and more boiled pig skin--and I was rapidly reaching the top rim. In fact, I'd already reached it. I still had a bowl of beans, not to mention 4 cups of gelatinous bean and pork water...
It's snowing in Brooklyn this morning. When I opened my eyes it had just begun to fall, and I padded over to my window like a little child at Christmas. Snow makes me very happy, as does winter in general--I absolutely love bundling up in all sorts of ridiculous scarves and hats and I love the invigorating nip of freezing wind. When it's summer and hot, there's nothing you can really do ab...
By Blake Royer 
It's difficult, sometimes, to make Brunch plans. They usually happen in a haze at 1:30 in the morning, when everyone's hungry, a bit tired, and getting very sentimental. "Oh, let's all wake up and have a big intimate meal together tomorrow!" It's a way of ensuring, in hopeful and vague way, that the night never has to end--just after a short nap, we'll all get togeth...