Category Archives: Cooking

Here you’ll find everything about cooking that isn’t actually a recipe. Tips, techniques, gripes, whatever.

Jake’s Famous Barbecue Sauce… good enough to pour on my meat!

Of the hundreds of products I tasted at last month’s Winter Fancy Food Show, Jake’s Famous barbecue sauces really stood out. His Asian-inspired Blue Oak reminded me of the complex espresso sauce provided at the legendary Franklin’s in Austin. It … Continue reading

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Recipe: Nair’s “National Dish” Feijoada

My friend Nair Wolf, a chef who hails from Brazil, has shared her recipe for this legendary one-dish meal. The following is a restaurant-size prep that will serve 15-20 people but because there so many ingredients I’d advise you to … Continue reading

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Recipe: Nair’s Feijoada Sauce

Feijoada Sauce is a necessary accompaniment for Nair’s “National Dish” Feijoada, a one-dish meal with beans and various types of meat. Ingredients: Juice of 3 lemons 1/4 c orange juice 1/2 c feijoada juice (cooking liquid from the feijoada) 3 T … Continue reading

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Uncle Steve’s Arribiata Sauce

I have a soft spot for celebrity pasta sauce. First, I think jarred sauce is pretty generic so most any attempt to dress it up is likely to yield positive results. Second, I totally buy the notion of the pressured … Continue reading

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What’s cooking at CES 2015 in Las Vegas

This is the year of the “internet of things” at the Consumer Electronics Show, but in two days prowling the aisles I did not see many things for the adventurous cook. An exception is the Anova sous vide cooker shown … Continue reading

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What happened to the carrot and onions in Julia Child’s boeuf bourguinon?

I decided to make Julia Child’s boeuf bourguinon this weekend, following the recipe in my 1973 copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She’s got a nice technique for working the flour into meat: brown the meat first, then … Continue reading

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How to do Thanksgiving right

This year we got super lazy and did not brine our turkey, did not lay in fresh cranberries, and most of all did not make elaborate social plans. Yet as the day dawns bright and snowy I have no doubt … Continue reading

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Baking Hamelman’s 80% rye “Affidavit Bread”

The other day I baked up a wonderful pullman loaf of 80% whole rye that’s perfect for serving with smoked salmon or some of the nice Brooklyn whitefish salad I had left over from a party last weekend. With a … Continue reading

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The cure for watery steak

I have been reading Steak by Mark Schatzker, in which the author searches the world for the world’s tastiest piece of beef. It is a quest I will admire, but not join, because I believe you should not have to … Continue reading

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What to do with tomatillos (Mexican green tomatoes)

Tomatillos, also known as Mexican green tomatoes, are actually a relative of the gooseberry which grows fruit covered with a similar papery husk. But they behave very much like tomatoes in recipes while adding a tartness all their own. Another … Continue reading

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