It's not difficult to make a good one but it does take time. Fortunately, the cooking breaks neatly into make-ahead stages. It's one of those occasions when it really is worth making your own stock, and a good beef stock needs several hours' gentle simmering and an overnight chill, allowing the fat to solidify.
This recipe is the Bacon Explosion, modestly called by its inventors “the BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes.” The instructions for constructing this massive torpedo-shaped amalgamation of two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce first appeared last month on the Web site of a team of Kansas City competition barbecuers.
After a two-day marathon of cooking and judging that pitted chefs from 24 countries against each other, the chef from Norway won the Bocuse d'Or, the cooking competition known as the Olympics of Food.
Marmalade making is about as pleasurable as cooking can get. It isn't something for those whose only reason for cooking is the finished product. If the process of peeling oranges, painstakingly cutting their skin into fine strands and constantly checking their progress on the stove is a chore, then don't do it.
McLagan believes this epidemic of overconsumption is largely related to our [ie, American] culture of eating for the wrong reasons at the wrong times.
"People eat because they're bored or just walking down the street," McLagan said. "They're not sitting down and eating a meal in moderation and then not snacking in between."
McLagan further believes that including good-quality animal fat in that meal will start us down the road to wellness. "Because fat is digested slowly," she writes, "eating it leaves us feeling sated, and we're less likely to snack between meals. Eat the right fats and you'll probably lose weight."
Indeed, much has been made of the so-called "French Paradox," the observation that even though people in France have a diet rich in animal fats, they tend to be thinner and have a lower incidence of coronary disease than their American counterparts. McLagan suggests that this phenomenon may reflect not so much the presence of fat in European diets as it does the absence of processed food.
"We have reduced our intake of animal fats, but at the same time the total amount of fat in our diet has increased," she writes. "We have replaced animal fats with man-made hydrogenated fats, which are full of trans fats."
1 sheep's bag and pluck
100g suet
4 medium-sized onions
200g pinhead oatmeal
2-4 level tbsp salt
1 level teaspoonful black pepper (blanched)
1 level teaspoonful powdered herbs
Think beyond stuffing and you’ll hit on some of the chicest platefuls around – the bread salad panzanella, bread-and-butter pudding, pain perdu . The fashion for peasant food has seen us exalt dishes that were created to use up old bread. Its ability to soak up flavours, to be soft or crispy and to thicken a dish, make it one of the most useful leftovers ...
... Bread recipes: Ribollita ... Bread recipes: Pommes Lorraines ... Bread recipes: Spaghetti with chilli, garlic and breadcrumbs ...
For example, I used to think India Pale Ale was just an overly bitter brew that only hard-core hop freaks could enjoy, until I learnt of its evolution as a beer for the troops in pre-refrigeration colonial India.
Now when I drink an IPA I imagine I am a guard on duty at the Black Hole of Calcutta and savour every drop.
It contains vitamin C and potassium and is a source of iron. It is also linked with good intestinal health, although some argue it may be too good as it can produce a little more wind than desired.
Then, to my surprise, I watched Sarah peel the raw beets, cut them into small cubes and drizzle them with oil.
Most roasted-beet recipes call for cooking the beets whole, then peeling and cubing them after they’re already cooked. It never occurred to me to do any of this before roasting.
Still, Sarah’s technique made perfect sense. The smaller beet pieces would roast much faster than the whole vegetables; they were tender about 50 minutes later, when the rest of the salad was prepped and ready for them.
These roasted beets were even sweeter than usual, having caramelized all over from the intense heat.
And, as a bonus, I noticed that the fuchsia juice from the raw beets didn’t stain Sarah’s fingers the way cooked beet juice does.
Slow cooking is the secret and you can never use too much paprika.
1. a rich meat stew highly seasoned with paprika
Similar Words: goulash, gulyas
Hyponyms: beef goulash, pork-and-veal goulash, porkholt
Popovers are those puffy, crisp, muffin-sized rolls, so named because as the batter bakes and expands, it literally pops over the side. They look like little souffles, light and ethereal, and are so easy to whip up you'll be looking for excuses to serve them every week, whether it's with a stew or salad. A little grated lemon zest and freshly ground black pepper add some kick to the egg-rich batter.
There’s plenty of pleasure to be had from a grapefruit, however, if you stop seeing it as punishment. Forget long-life grapefruit juice, which really is nasty, and search out the best fresh fruit. The modern red and pink varieties have enough sweetness to offset the bitterness.
The smell of garlic, the horror of raw egg, the joy of a perfect Bolognese, the memory of a madeleine... four leading American writers on unforgettable dishes
... you might clear out a bit of the detritus that’s cluttering your shelves. Some of these things take up more space than they’re worth, while others are so much better in their real forms that the difference is laughable. Sadly, some remain in common usage even among good cooks. My point here is not to criminalize their use, but to point out how easily and successfully we can substitute for them, in every case with better results.
Here, then, is my little list of items you might spurn, along with some essential pantry and long-keeping refrigerator items you might consider.
Reading this article made me think of al those articles in the Travel section; nice places to visit, but I have neither the time nor the money to go there.
Well, if I had your salary/grocery budget I might follow your suggestions more seriously. I have a couple of suggestions: stock a few packs of Ramen to recover from the flu, a hangover or a fit of the lazy day blues- add some fresh sliced/diced onion and celery, frozen peas while the water comes to a boil- add noodles and cook- throw in a few bits of meat/fish- the dry season mix, and a slice of ginger (next hint)- splash with low-sodium soy sauce- or if you have run out and your car is frozen, teriyaki sauce.//Grate fresh ginger and roll in plastic wrap like a log and freeze. Cut off slices as needed.//Continue buying canned tomato paste. Tubed paste is a rip-off. Open both ends of can and squeeze onto plastic wrap and freeze. Cut off as needed.//Peppers can be frozen without blanching as long as the seeds and pith are removed.//Yams spoil easily in the fridge. Bake them and freeze for future use.//Carrots are good keepers and should be looked on as cakes, muffins, soups besides being sticks.//Dry spices have been hoarded and the cause of wars for centuries- just keep them cool and dark.//How much does it cost to toast croutons? Buy them on sale instead of potato chips- adds heft to soups.
While edgy food trends go in and out of style, the time-honored method of braising remains constant.
...
Braised Short Ribs
Fruity, nutty bread, herby baked eggs and savoury drop scones invite you to linger, put on another pot of coffee, read all of the paper, throw more logs on the fire. Perhaps you'll enjoy it so much you'll make a date with yourself to do it more often.
"Crash" (2005)
Watch: Collisions, carjackings, shootings and other trademark Los Angeles happenings connect more than a dozen characters over a 36-hour period.
Eat: A "double-double" burger — double meat, double cheese, a signature car consumable from In-N-Out Burger, the city's iconic fast-food joint. If you can't make it to Los Angeles, let McDonald's stand in or make your own. Wash it down with a chocolate milkshake.
Even Gordon Ramsay is heading Down Under, opening a branch of Maze in Melbourne's Crown Casino complex in 2010.
Ramsay knows that while spectacular rainforests and outback deserts are all well and good, the best food hugs the urban coastal fringes of this sunburnt country. By modelling itself on Las Vegas, Crown Casino has already snared the cream of Australian cheffery, including Rockpool's Neil Perry, Paul Bocuse-trained Philippe Mouchel, and the Sydney Opera House's Guillaume Brahimi, as well as being home to Nobu's first Antipodean outpost. I'm currently on walkabout here myself, camping out at its most intriguing new opening, Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons.
Beetroot and apple bortsch ... Cauliflower and parmesan soup ... Celeriac soup with cobnuts ... Cream of fennel soup ... Jerusalem artichoke soup ... Parsnip soup with chestnuts and mixed herb pesto ... Pea and ham soup ... Pumpkin soup with chermoula ... Savoy cabbage and white bean soup ... Spiced carrot and butternut squash soup.
