July 2, 2009
Michael Jackson Tribute Cookies
My mom was the one who called me last week with the news. I was working with a friend and totally unprepared for the message my mom had to deliver. "Did you hear who died?" "Yes," I said, "Farrah Fawcett." "No," she said. "Did you hear who else?" "No, who?" I ran through possible celebrity deaths in my head. Or was it someone we knew? "Michael Jackson," said mom.
Almost instantly I repeated those words: "Michael Jackson." And my friend's wife yelled out from the other room: "Michael Jackson died?" It was the kind of sentence you don't expect to say and then when you do say it, or when you hear it, you liked it better when that sentence didn't exist. Such was the case with those awful words, "Michael Jackson died."
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Tags: cookies, Michael Jackson, pop culture | July 2, 2009 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments
July 2, 2009
Fresh Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce
Lounging around on a hot Saturday afternoon, you don't want to think too hard about dinner. You read your book, you cheat and start the Sunday crossword puzzle a day early, you watch old episodes of "Lydia's Italy" on Tivo. Perhaps it's that last fact, though, that propels you--hours later--off the couch, into your kitchen, scratching your head. It's 7 PM and what are you going to make? You see a bag of flour. You see eggs in your refrigerator. You spy a can of tomatoes on the shelf. "Might I?" you ask yourself. "Noooo." But then you consider again and you settle on it: you are going to make fresh pasta--yes, pasta from scratch--and serve it with spicy tomato sauce.
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Tags: food2, fresh pasta, tomato sauce | July 2, 2009 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments
Red, White and Blue — Pledge allegiance to this month's banner, designed by our brilliantly patriotic illustrator, Lindy. Thanks to her and thanks to Justin for installing it. Now for a very important question: what's Blue Nun??
Molly Stevens Makes Porchetta — I was delighted to see that Molly Stevens, author of one of my favorite cookbooks ever, All About Braising, left a comment on my Porchetta post yesterday. "Glad you made it to Porchetta. It is truly amazing. I got so inspired on my last visit that I endeavored to make porchetta at home." And, indeed, here's a link to Molly's porchetta post, with a recipe forthcoming. Who among you will attempt to make it first?
June 30, 2009
Porchetta
My Twitter followers are a fervent bunch. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was in the East Village, getting a haircut at Sei Tomoko (the best haircut deal in town), and thinking of going to Porchetta for lunch. "Ooooh!" they cheered, "you've gotta go!" "I'm jealous!" "Porchetta is AMAZING." Then, later, when I confessed that I skipped Porchetta for Hummus Place--where I had a lighter, healthier lunch--the Twitter crowd was not happy. "Boooo!" they booed. "Grrrr!" they growled. "Hiss!" they hissed. (Wow, this post sounds like a children's book.) I thought they'd unfollow me and spurn my name forever, but now they should be appeased: I went with Diana to Porchetta for lunch last week and now I get what got them so worked up.
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Tags: Diana, East Village, Porchetta, Twitter | June 30, 2009 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments
June 29, 2009
Easy Biscuits
It's a good thing to know how to make biscuits. I mean, at what point of the day would you say "no" to a hot buttermilk biscuit, fresh from the oven? The answer is: "No point of the day, Adam. I would eat a biscuit any time."
I'm right there with you, imaginary person. I love biscuits and I try to make them whenever I can, especially on Sunday mornings when I send Craig to the store to buy eggs. "Buy some buttermilk too," I often say because, really, if he buys buttermilk, I have everything else I need to make biscuits. To make fresh biscuits all you need is butter, buttermilk, flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt. Everything else is technique.
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Tags: biscuits, Cook's Illustrated, recipes | June 29, 2009 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments
June 29, 2009
Watermelon Salad
Have you been watching "The Next Food Network Star"? It's a good show: an honest look at what it takes to become an on-air food personality.
Last week's loser, Eddie, forgot what show he was on--he probably thought he was on "Top Chef"--when he razzed working mom Melissa in the kitchen. Eddie, this show is all about image: you can't pick on sweet, warm mother figures if you want to go far! Plus, for his dish, which he served to the grandest dame on FoodTV, Ina Garten, he pilfered a recipe from Paula Dean; a watermelon salad that I've shared with you before. Except, in Eddie's version he used way too many onions. Those onions sent him packing: no one gives Ina Garten onion breath. But that salad is worth revisiting--it's one of my favorites.
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Tags: Next Food Network Star, watermelon salad | June 29, 2009 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments
June 25, 2009
Food Inc.
What are you having for dinner tomorrow night?
It's a simple question, isn't it? Tomorrow's Friday night, so maybe you have plans? Are you going to meet friends? Cooking a romantic dinner at home? Going out for pizza?
So let's say you go out for pizza with a big group. Your group, including yourself, is made up of happy carnivores and as you're sitting around the table, yelling out toppings, someone shouts out "sausage!" Everyone cheers, "yeah!" and 20 minutes later your pie arrives, glistening and bubbly from the oven, and that sausage looks perfect on there: meaty and brown and substantial. This is food that'll fill you up.
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Tags: Food Inc., food politics, pork, Smithfield | June 25, 2009 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments
June 24, 2009
Sweet and Sour Chicken
My proudest kitchen moments are the ones where I am at my most resourceful. On Sunday, I opened my refrigerator to find two raw chicken breasts leftover from a chicken segment we shot for food2.com. The easy option would've been to roast them in the oven (I was going to write "bake them in the oven," but doesn't roasted chicken always sound better than baked chicken?), but instead I decided to channel my inner Chinese cooking goddess. I flipped open my copy of "The Breath of a Wok" by Grace Young and looked for recipes you can do easily with chicken breasts. I found one for Sweet & Sour Chicken and, even though I didn't have a wok or several of the ingredients, I proceeded anyway. This is my story.
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Tags: chicken, Chinese cooking, Grace Young, The Breath of a Wok | June 24, 2009 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments
June 23, 2009
Roasted Rhubarb
Another quick, seasonal recipe from Dorie Greenspan. Take one pound of rhubarb, cut it into 2 inch pieces, place in a pie plate with 1/2 cup of sugar, orange zest (or lemon zest) from one orange or lemon and let sit for five minutes. Preheat oven to 400, cover dish with foil, and cook for 15 minutes. Check to see if sugar is dissolved: if not, stir around, and let it go a minute or two more. Then remove the foil and cook another five minutes. That's it! Let it cool and serve with yogurt. A lovely, healthy spring snack.
Tags: Dorie Greenspan, rhubarb, snacks | June 23, 2009 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments
June 22, 2009
Skoaling
A few weeks ago, Steven Shaw of eGullet invited me, along with Adam Kuban and Deb Perelman, to speak to his food blogging class at the French Culinary Institute. After we answered his student's questions about traffic and advertising (quick tip: if you want to make money, don't go into food blogging!), we were ushered into a secret room where we were asked to skoal on camera. "Skoal?" we asked. "Skoal!" they answered and we all looked at each other, wondering if our reputations would ever recover. And then they explained skoaling and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
Tags: Dave Arnold, French Culinary Institute, Nils Noren, skoaling, Steven Shaw | June 22, 2009 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments
June 22, 2009
A Picnic in the Park
There are random acts of kindness and then there are random acts of picnics. Or random picnics of kindness. I need to work on the name, but here's how it works: you have a friend or loved one who works in midtown Manhattan. You offer to meet them for lunch. When they say, "where?" you say: "Let's meet in Central Park, I'll bring the food."
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Tags: Bouchon Bakery, Craig, parks, picnics | June 22, 2009 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments
June 18, 2009
Reader Survey 6.18.09
Hey Readers, every now and then I like to do a survey to find out who's reading my site, what you're liking and what new stuff you'd like to see. If you get a chance, please fill out this survey in the comments!
Amateur Gourmet Reader Survey
(June 18th, 2009)
Name:
Location:
Age:
Sex:
How Long You've Been Reading Amateur Gourmet:
How You Found The Site:
Favorite Post of All Time:
Favorite Recipe You Found on the Site:
What topic haven't I covered that you'd like me to cover?
What restaurant/dining establishment haven't I visited that you'd like me to visit?
If we had children together, what would we name them?
What are you having for lunch today?
Anything else you'd like to say?
Thanks, everyone. I appreciate your feedback.
Tags: feedback, readers, surveys | June 18, 2009 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments
June 16, 2009
Eggs Adam Roberts
Immortality is not something food bloggers can look forward to. Even though the internet feels permanent, who knows where we'll be in ten or twenty years? These posts that you love and cherish so much might vanish into the ether and then what? What will food bloggers have to show for themselves? Nothing, I tell you, nothing! That is, unless we start naming recipes after ourselves. Which is why I bring you a recipe that should hit restaurant menus as soon as I click "post": behold, Eggs Adam Roberts.
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Tags: breakfast, eggs, ego, pickled jalapenos | June 16, 2009 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments
June 16, 2009
Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee
Two things rattle me on weekends: waiting in line for brunch and waiting in line for coffee.
I avoid the first by cooking brunch at home (it also saves us money), but the second is hard to avoid not because I can't make coffee at home, but because we live just a few feet away from a truly excellent coffee shop. This coffee shop is so excellent that Craig won't drink coffee when I brew it, he gets his ritual latte no matter how long the line. So when it comes to Sunday coffee, unless I'm making lattes, Craig's not having it. Which is fine because since he's waiting in line anyway, I just have him pick one up for me too. That is, until this weekend, when late Friday night....
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Tags: brewing, coffee, iced drinks, Internet Food Association | June 16, 2009 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments
