Cooking
Do you want to hear a story about how some recipes come to be? One of my assigned recipes was for corn fritters. So I did my homework and research. I found a great corn fritter recipe flitting about online. It's been adapted and twisted this way and that. It was the base for my recipe, but mine is very different and I'll tell you why. It all comes down to the fact that I have a great fear of frying. A few years back when the landlord replaced my stove, he installed one with no ventilation. So frying means the whole apartment smells like a fast food hut. Sure, I open the windows but it's not the same as having a true ventilation system built in. Frankly I avoid frying at all costs. But in this case I had to fry.
I think in my anxiety about having to fry the fritters, I messed up on the basic recipe. I added too much of one ingredient and used the wrong version of another ingredient. I made quite a few changes. Let's just say some of the changes were more intentional than others! But the result? Brilliant. It was terrific from the very first go.
The accompanying dip is a sexy, smoky, honey number that is made from only three ingredients. I will be making versions of it for a long time to come, even for food that isn't fried. I think it would be great with slices of fresh apples. I don't know why it pleases me so much when a recipe is so simple, but it does. It's like some amazing alchemy--just one, two, three and poof! Great food.
Note: I wish I could share all my recipes with you here, but they belong to my client/publisher. I will however let you know when the book comes out.
- Seeking Recipe Testers!
Have you ever wanted to be a recipe tester? You know, try out recipes and report back on how they turned out--what went wrong or what could be improved? I know I have. Well here's a great opportunity to do it. Next year Collectors Press is publishing...
- Biscotti Fruit Slices Recipe
In the past couple of weeks I have tried several recipes that have bombed. Recipes, I'm sad to say, I found on the internet. Fortunately there are plenty of good ones out there too. One way to find really good, solid recipes, is to use a credible...
- Yum:software
As I have mentioned before, I LOVE cookbooks. But cookbooks have their physical limitations. They get messy. They can be hard to keep open and cook from at the same time. And who hasn't made something from a recipe, enjoyed it, then at a later date,...
- I'm Frying! I'm Frying!
My to-do list for this weekend started with "Deep-fat fry". I've been putting this off my whole life, but I decided this would be the weekend I would finally put a check-mark in that box. First, I must apologize to Bob and Chuck - they gave me a...
- Best Laid Plans
One of my birthday gifts this year was Diana Kennedy’s “From My Mexican Kitchen: Techniques and Ingredients”. It is a beautiful book and fantastic resource loaded with photographs of ingredients, equipment, and techniques. ...
Cooking
Fry Mama!
Do you want to hear a story about how some recipes come to be? One of my assigned recipes was for corn fritters. So I did my homework and research. I found a great corn fritter recipe flitting about online. It's been adapted and twisted this way and that. It was the base for my recipe, but mine is very different and I'll tell you why. It all comes down to the fact that I have a great fear of frying. A few years back when the landlord replaced my stove, he installed one with no ventilation. So frying means the whole apartment smells like a fast food hut. Sure, I open the windows but it's not the same as having a true ventilation system built in. Frankly I avoid frying at all costs. But in this case I had to fry.
I think in my anxiety about having to fry the fritters, I messed up on the basic recipe. I added too much of one ingredient and used the wrong version of another ingredient. I made quite a few changes. Let's just say some of the changes were more intentional than others! But the result? Brilliant. It was terrific from the very first go.
The accompanying dip is a sexy, smoky, honey number that is made from only three ingredients. I will be making versions of it for a long time to come, even for food that isn't fried. I think it would be great with slices of fresh apples. I don't know why it pleases me so much when a recipe is so simple, but it does. It's like some amazing alchemy--just one, two, three and poof! Great food.
Note: I wish I could share all my recipes with you here, but they belong to my client/publisher. I will however let you know when the book comes out.
- Seeking Recipe Testers!
Have you ever wanted to be a recipe tester? You know, try out recipes and report back on how they turned out--what went wrong or what could be improved? I know I have. Well here's a great opportunity to do it. Next year Collectors Press is publishing...
- Biscotti Fruit Slices Recipe
In the past couple of weeks I have tried several recipes that have bombed. Recipes, I'm sad to say, I found on the internet. Fortunately there are plenty of good ones out there too. One way to find really good, solid recipes, is to use a credible...
- Yum:software
As I have mentioned before, I LOVE cookbooks. But cookbooks have their physical limitations. They get messy. They can be hard to keep open and cook from at the same time. And who hasn't made something from a recipe, enjoyed it, then at a later date,...
- I'm Frying! I'm Frying!
My to-do list for this weekend started with "Deep-fat fry". I've been putting this off my whole life, but I decided this would be the weekend I would finally put a check-mark in that box. First, I must apologize to Bob and Chuck - they gave me a...
- Best Laid Plans
One of my birthday gifts this year was Diana Kennedy’s “From My Mexican Kitchen: Techniques and Ingredients”. It is a beautiful book and fantastic resource loaded with photographs of ingredients, equipment, and techniques. ...