Category Archives: Cooking

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

How do you like your olive oil to taste?

The folks at California Olive Ranch are conducting an interesting marketing experiment. In my supermarket currently are 500 ML bottles of their Extra Virgin Olive Oil, evenly distributed between olive oils that say “Mild & Buttery” and “Rich & Robust”. … Continue reading

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Battle Mandram: A family history

Judy Cromwell is a longtime friend who frequently comments on my recipes. She agreed to share her Mandram recipe and contributed this bonus description of her family’s tussles with this dish through the decades. Chef Otis’ interest in recreating southern … Continue reading

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How I made sourdough bread in a hotel room, sort of

Staying this week in a hotel room with a kitchenette, I decided to build on my experience with hotel room kale salad. Was it possible to come up with an edible loaf using only flour, water, store-bought yeast and salt? … Continue reading

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How to get big(ger) holes in your baguettes

[New to Burnt My Fingers? See UPDATE at the end of this post.] Big, lacy holes are a right of passage in baguette making. Big holes in baguettes mean an airy, well-made loaf with a chewy, tasty crumb. Contributing factors … Continue reading

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A tour of Chinese vinegars

I was going to do a post on Chinese vinegars when I ran across this Youtube video. Cooking teacher Eileen Lo takes us on a tour of an oddly non-busy grocery in New York’s Chinatown and tells not only what … Continue reading

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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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