More with the recipes… Use a lot more leeks than you can usually convince Jonah to buy. 8-12 leeks is a good start. I prefer to use only the white and white-green parts. If you move on to green-white it’s okay, but don’t use the green parts. They just tastes like grass. Slice the leeks thinly, and wash them. Wash them another several times. Wash them again, unless you like gritty soup. Sautee them in butter and olive oil. I tend to measure butter in units of sticks. One stick is fine for this. You want some oil so the…
I’ve gotten several requests lately for my bread “recipe”. I don’t use a recipe for bread, and I don’t even really measure. In general, in order to make good food, it much better to learn techniques that get you toward an end goal than to follow a recipe. Baking a cake involves careful measurement, but bread does not. I learned everything I know about bread from reading Peter Reinhart’s books and experimenting. I started with his recipes, but I’ve adapted them to my kitchen, temperament, ingredients and perferences. If you want a recipe, buy one of his books. Artisan Breads…
My boss taught me this recipe, and it is so good. Ingredients: 1 lb Italian sausage 1 big bunch red seedless grapes Balsamic vinegar. Take a Dutch oven. Put one pound of good Italian sausage in it. My favorite is sausage from our local meat market Andy’s, but in a pinch I have also used Boulder Sausage. I have used both sweet and Italian sausage, and both are good. Loose sausage is best, but you can also take links and squeeze the sausage out of them. Destem and dump in a big bunch of red seedless grapes. Dump in enough…
Operation barbacoa: two blisters and two bags of charcoal (to melt through the frost layer) and many hours later Berck is exultant about his hole. The leg of lamb is thawing in the laundry room and a stack of maguey leaves is waiting in the garage. Berck has fashioned wire handles for the pot from Mexico. We have test-fit the grate on the pot. We have firewood stock-piled next to the hole. We have a plywood cover and tarp ready for the hole. There are garbanzo beans soaking in water upstairs. Tomorrow morning, we have to get up super early…
My friend T once served me some delicious chicken tortellini soup. I got the recipe from her and modified it heavily. Here’s my version. It is so good. Even Mikey likes it. Chicken tortellini soup 1 lb chicken breasts cubed 1 lb sliced sausage (I like to use Andouille) 3 quarts of chicken broth 2 cans cream of chicken soup 1 cup vermouth 24 oz fresh or frozen tortellini 2 cups sliced carrots 2 bunches chopped green onions 4 teaspoons basil 1 teaspoon oregano 1 small head garlic minced 1 package fresh spinach 2 cups shredded white Cheddar 1 cup cream…