I used to think making a demiglace was one of those tricksy Frenchy technique-y kitchen things that you had to have years of experience to do well. And, well, that’s sort of true. A real French demiglace is a bit tricksy, being a roux-based brown sauce that not a whole lot of people make any [...]
Our weekend here was prolonged, beginning with the arrival of our first set of guests on Thursday and continuing on until yesterday late afternoon. The hostessing continues, in actuality, until after dinner Tuesday night, but not quite so intensively. Sometimes it just gets like this around here — we have a lot of people who [...]
I’ve been ill this week, one of those vile head colds that makes eating an unpleasant grind. Cookery has consequently been of a limited and boring sort. But I did finally block off the time, today, to process a large pile of gorgeous organic homegrown Meyer lemons given to me by a friend whose parents [...]
This is not one of those Pretty Foods. Onion marmalade is dark and thick and when you try to photograph it — or at least when I try to photograph it, which might be a different matter — it looks kind of like motor oil with lumps in. So I have chosen not to subject [...]
Ahem, and tap-tap-tap-is-this-thing-on, and hello, and my, it’s been an unconscionably long time since I last addressed the Internet from this vantage point. Please take it as writ that I missed you all terribly and that I will attempt to make some sort of amends for my truant ways. In my own defense, I was [...]
Tagged chocolate, Madison WI, mustard, web fictionI believe I mentioned that I have a book due on July 15, and am consequently in what we refer to as Book Deathmarch. This, consequently, is what the interior of my fridge looks like right now. My household has been eating, this past week, mostly courtesy of what’s been found in the freezer and [...]
A couple folks have asked, so here’s the approximate method for DIY salt-fermented chiles. You need about a pound of chiles of your desired degree of hottitude. Wash them, remove the stems, and chop them coarsely. I often bung them in the food processor and whir them until they are mostly coarsely chopped with a [...]
Tagged chiles, picklesWhooboy, it’s been a time around here, chickens. I’m deep, deep in the crunch, though not yet in the weeds thank God, with a book deadline July 15. So if postings get a little catch-as-catch can, fear not, it’s just that the book has eaten my head, my hands, and probably my cooking time, as [...]
Tagged chard, leafy greens, Mexican, monday's supper, pickles, porkWhat do you eat when you’re pressed for time or not feeling much like cooking? The day after I’ve done a service for the pop-up restaurant I am usually both, and meals can be a bit of an afterthought. One of the nice things about the pop-up restaurant situation, though, is that the leftovers usually [...]
Tagged arugula, leftovers, monday's supper, porkAt today’s food sampling event at Mill Valley, I garnished the mushroom-celeriac pecan pate with quick pickled onion. Enough people asked me how I made them that I thought I should share the procedure with you here. Quick Pickled Onion Peel, trim, and halve an onion. (Red, yellow, whatever you’ve got is fine.) Slice thinly [...]