tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59324752010-04-16T10:49:21.508-04:00<strong>Do not be afraid of cooking, as your ingredients will know and misbehave.</strong><br /> Fergus Henderson, <em>The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating</em>Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.comBlogger906125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-71738169119843067062010-04-16T03:00:00.003-04:002010-04-16T10:49:21.515-04:00

Dressing UpI developed this pear vinaigrette for a cooking class. It was a private cooking class for six on soufflés. I knew what the soufflés would be — a basic cheese soufflé to demonstrate basics, a shrimp soufflé to demonstrate making variations, and a steamed lemon pudding to demonstrate a sweet relative of a soufflé. The class was also designed to be dinner, which meant I needed a side

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-10178126900039200082010-04-15T03:00:00.003-04:002010-04-15T11:11:20.110-04:00

Making the Most of LeftoversWhen I was in college my roommates and I used frequently make a dish we called "Grunt." (Hey, we were college students.) It was a take-off on Beef Stroganoff and it featured such things as leftover roast beef, chicken and pork. It was very good, filling, cheap and easy - everything a bunch of young men want in a meal. Some 30-plus years later I still make it - but

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-13509030209131654252010-04-14T03:00:00.000-04:002010-04-14T03:00:08.182-04:00

Recipes...Asparagus ParmigianoFried AsparagusAsparagus en Croute

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-32926683124978298282010-04-13T03:00:00.001-04:002010-04-13T03:00:06.022-04:00

"You Want Some 'Taters with That Salt?"I don't understand the current love affair with various salts. It strikes me as precious and affected: the culinary equivalent of a limp wrist and lisp. After all, sodium chloride is sodium chloride.Don’t get me wrong, I consider salt one of the five main food groups and for 56 years my mother has admonished me (and my father) for over-salting our food - so

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-3732552866613569622010-04-12T03:00:00.002-04:002010-04-12T03:00:08.009-04:00

Making DoAs had become our habit, about 10:30 we stopped for a cappuccino. We did this each morning while we were in Italy. Ten-thirty was a good time to stop. We'd usually been in the car for an hour and a half by then, and the break provided a pleasing point of routine special to that trip.There was always a bar stretching along one wall and dominated by the huge, ornate coffee machine.The

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-67326363129562784672010-04-09T03:00:00.001-04:002010-04-09T03:00:05.025-04:00

'Tis the SeasonMy mother tells a story of her first visit to Paris. She had read about artichokes (and perhaps had eaten canned artichokes) but at that time fresh artichokes were not an option in the South. So one day, while my father was attending a seminar, she had lunch alone in the hotel and ordered a steamed artichoke. It was one of those revelatory food experiences. When she describes that

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-54986012363855489212010-04-08T03:00:00.001-04:002010-04-08T03:00:00.810-04:00

Spring LuciousnessRhubarb fool is one of the easiest desserts you can make. English fools (the dessert variety) are traditionally made with somewhat tart fruits, such as blackberries or loganberries so rhubarb (which is actually a vegetable, not a fruit) is a perfect choice. They are extremely simple consisting of sweetened cooked fruit swirled in whipped cream but can make a very elegant

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-28435752837419827452010-04-07T03:00:00.000-04:002010-04-07T03:00:06.780-04:00

Recipe here...

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-32093610371979483922010-04-06T03:00:00.005-04:002010-04-10T18:24:28.286-04:00

Creating Depth and PolishAt one point in my life I tried to make part of my living refinishing furniture. I would take an old, battered table or chest, strip the finish off, then carefully build a new finish. Rebuilding a finish consisted of sanding the piece to satin smoothness, then moistening it to bring the grain back up before sanding it again. Then I might add a light stain to highlight the

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-34536370506137365452010-04-05T03:00:00.002-04:002010-04-05T03:00:00.786-04:00

PersistenceChefs love sea scallops. They're sweet, adaptable, cook quickly, and the large, natural, medallion shape makes for an elegant presentation. On the other hand, bay scallops are often under-appreciated. Although also lusciously sweet and delicious, they're small and have an inelegant appearance. In the 1980's the bay scallop population was almost wiped out by a toxic algae know as "brown

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-74651899130368823502010-04-02T03:01:00.001-04:002010-04-02T03:01:02.494-04:00

Oh Happy DaysUnlike most vegetables, rhubarb is only available here in season. This doesn't bother me, there are quite a few things like asparagus, tomatoes, and peaches that I only eat when they're in season even though they're available year-round. In fact waiting for the proper season means that it is not only better and fresher, but is an excuse to gorge on it.Rhubarb is one of those funny

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-1601937984303965532010-04-01T02:55:00.005-04:002010-04-01T14:18:10.289-04:00

I came up with the idea of Stuffed Mushrooms with Pancetta and Dried Tomatoes when I was catering a party for a client who has celiac disease, when it turned out she was also allergic to shellfish, ruling out the mushrooms stuffed with crab, I had to get really creative. If you're unfamiliar with pancetta, it's an Italian bacon and you can find at most up-scale supermarkets, such as Whole Foods,

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-35446330179820926182010-03-31T11:55:00.004-04:002010-03-31T12:07:10.934-04:00

A Good Easter Dinner Could Be Greek To YouThe perennial question facing me each spring is what to fix for Easter dinner. Although I'm not a religious person, any excuse for a feast works for me, particularly one celebrating the end of winter. This year, the Eastern Orthodox and Protestant/Catholic Easters happen to fall on the same date — April 4. So it seemed a perfect occasion to celebrate the

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-23365665539445782302010-03-31T03:00:00.000-04:002010-03-31T03:00:05.928-04:00

Recipe here...

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-58697868032452590342010-03-30T03:00:00.000-04:002010-03-30T03:00:05.917-04:00

Try It, You'll Like ItThese days the magazines are roasting everything. Everything vegetable that is. And it's certainly true that cooking in dry heat does a marvelous job of concentrating flavors. On the other hand, vegetables that are fibrous to begin with remain pretty fibrous after roasting — I'm thinking in particular of broccoli and asparagus, which I still prefer steamed. I'm with the

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-59404831328732548422010-03-29T03:00:00.001-04:002010-03-29T03:00:08.878-04:00

Experimental CookingUsually I have no qualms about experimenting on family, friends, students, or even clients. I'll try out new recipes on all of them with few qualms. But then, I'm usually 90 percent sure of what things will taste like provided I know all the ingredients and the cooking method. A taste and a tweak or two on the seasonings and whatever it is comes out fine. I'm sure this true of

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-40824548747111895812010-03-26T03:00:00.004-04:002010-03-26T03:00:06.357-04:00

Patates FournouThis is a quick post, no long-winded story for a change, but recently I wrote an article featuring a Greek Easter menu for NPR's Kitchen Window. In the course of writing the story I tried a number of traditional Greek Easter recipes - research can be such fun.My favorite recipe of the lot was tsoureki, which is a delicately orange-flavored, slightly sweet bread. It's a perfect

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-89156043577439641992010-03-25T03:00:00.001-04:002010-03-25T03:00:03.820-04:00

Broiled trout is a great dinner option. Quick and easy, it's perfect for a weeknight meal and because trout is usually farm-raised it doesn't cause harm to declining wild fish stocks. This recipe adds a lemon cream sauce, which fancies the meal up, but in fact you can easily skip the sauce (making it low calorie and low fat) and it's still absolutely delicious.Recipe here...

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-30840010923099562632010-03-24T03:00:00.000-04:002010-03-24T03:00:07.019-04:00

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-48014804550633427822010-03-23T03:00:00.001-04:002010-03-23T03:00:12.209-04:00

One of My Favorite ThingsAt least once every Christmas I'm given as a gift. At least that's the way I like to put. Of course, it's not me but my ability to cook that's being given, but I like taking it personally. I'm given on other occasions as well. I think my favorite is the two occasions when a mother-in-law has gifted her daughter-in-law with a week or two's worth of meals when the DIL came

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-41368322045498503542010-03-22T03:00:00.001-04:002010-03-22T03:00:07.223-04:00

Tart and TangyDuring the 80s my family would gather each Memorial Day weekend at my parents home for what we called our Family Birthday Party. At the time my brothers lived in New York and my sister in North Carolina and we just found it too difficult for everyone to come home for Christmas, so we gathered at the end of May instead.In addition to my immediate family, my aunt Gloria (Glo-Buns as

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-52575899243164515572010-03-19T03:00:00.002-04:002010-03-19T03:00:09.759-04:00

Saur GootenAs a rule, I like leftovers. Mostly this applies to things like last week's corned beef or a pot of chile or even a casserole such as Shepherd's Pie. In fact, some leftover mashed potatoes and roast lamb are perfect for making Shepherd's Pie. Toss in some cooked carrots, frozen peas, maybe some roasted rutabaga and make some gravy and there you have it.Cooked potatoes are particularly

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-21819982516590579152010-03-18T03:00:00.001-04:002010-03-18T03:00:07.688-04:00

A Soufflé TutorialThis coming Sunday I'm teaching a private class on making souffles. I'm looking forward to it. I love souffles as much for their transformation from a wet pudding to a lofty "cake" as for their wonderfully ethereal flavor. A couple of years ago, when I first started writing for Cooking for Two, I created this photo tutorial as well as a set of tips for making soufflés.Tutorial

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-61669042217232639802010-03-17T03:00:00.000-04:002010-03-17T03:00:03.083-04:00

Recipe here...

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932475.post-89470549113689356622010-03-16T03:00:00.001-04:002010-03-16T03:00:06.006-04:00

A Treat for Saint PatrickChocolate? Eh, it's ok but if I had to go the rest of my life without tasting chocolate I wouldn't even miss it. This is not to say I don't like chocolate on occasion and my favorite non-fruit-based dessert is brownies. I've even discovered the pleasures of a small piece of excellent bitter -sweet chocolate with a glass of red wine or beer as a light dessert. Even so, the

Kevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01385923797403540154noreply@blogger.com4