Michael Ruhlman's Blog, page 13

Holiday Classic: Rib Roast

Reposting this method because, well, if you’re going to cook a standing rib roast now or ever, this is THE best way to do it. Every Christmas Day our family cooks a prime rib with Yorkshire pudding and a beef jus (made from beef-veal stock), and there’s no better way to cook a rack of beef or a whole beef tenderloin than this combination grill-roast method, which I’ve written about here before and in Ruhlman’s Twenty: A Cook’s Manifesto. It gives the meat great grilled flavor and allows you perfect control of temperatures and timing (the grilling can be done up to three days before the final cooking). The ribs themselves are an added benefit. You can serve them immediately, but I like to save them for a second leftover meal the next day. They’re Read On »

Guest Post: Savory Lamb Pie

I met MyThy at Sister Pie, where she works prepping pie filling and mixing dough for cookies, scones, crumbles, and pie crust. Plus, she has a killer Instagram account and blog. Like Lisa, who owns and operates Sister Pie, MyThy also has a creative culinary mind and bakes amazing cookies and breads. This is why I asked her to submit a recipe to Michael’s blog.  When she is not in the kitchen you can find her saving lives as an ER nurse at a local hospital in Detroit. She cares for people during the day, saving lives on- and off-hours. She nourishes people by feeding them her latest concoctions. MyThy then takes leftovers back and feeds her coworkers baked goodies to boost morale for those with grueling ER shifts. The staff call them “Mighty Treats!” MyThy is a Southern Californian native, transplanted to Michigan, aka the Mitten State (which plays Read On »

Thank You Shippers & Another Discount

Time once again to thank the wonderful workers at Vocational Guidance Services in Cleveland for working so hard to ship our kitchen tools throughout the country. VGS has for decades employed those who can’t otherwise find work—the disabled, people who have been homeless, people who are recently out of jail—to give them jobs, or, ideally, prepare them to find work outside this non-profit. In other words, VGS is a valuable part of our community and Mac and I put a strain on them with our recent sales (one last sale offered below!), so we wanted to thank them publicly for their good work. Thank you all!   Another chance for 40% off all Ruhlman products! We wanted to give you another opportunity to purchase holiday gifts for your friends and family! So we’re making all Read On »

Holiday Books

I typically get sent what must be hundreds of pounds of cookbooks in the fall and so have a fair idea of the landscape of new books. Owing to an uncommon amount of travel, I haven’t had the opportunity this year. But I was sent one book to blurb (“say nice things about”) that goes above and beyond any cookbook I’ve seen since Nathan Myrhvold and company’s Modernist Cuisine. That book is The Food Lab, by Kenji López-Alt, Managing Culinary Director of Serious Eats, named for his cooking column there. That column first appeared in 2009. Over the next half-decade, this uber food geek tackled all kinds of cooking experiments to determine the very best way to cook, say, eggs. Kenji has combined knowledge gleaned over half a decade, reshaping it and putting all this knowledge, all this work, Read On »

My Books

I would of course be remiss in the eyes of my venerable publishers if I did not recommend my own books as being splendid gift ideas for the holidays. So herewith my not-so-humble descriptions of some of the books I’m most proud of. My favorite and most useful cookbook, especially for young cooks, home cooks who want to get better, or parents who want to help teach their kids to cook, is Ruhlman’s Twenty: 20 Techniques, 100 Recipes, a Cook’s Manifesto. It identifies the twenty fundamental ideas, foods, and techniques required to cook just about anything. It won a James Beard Award in the general cooking category when it came out. The egg is a miracle of nutrition, economy, deliciousness, and utility. There may be no more valuable food to the cook. So I wrote a book Read On »

Holiday Shopping: Small Ticket

  Continuing holiday shopping week, and again reposting similar products from last year, as essentials rarely change, here are my recommendations for modestly priced kitchen tools that are essentials in my kitchen. (All but one of the following links is to Amazon; I’m a part of its affiliate program—when you shop at Amazon via this site, it helps to support this site.) I own and love everything mentioned below. The above Benriner mandoline ($21) is one of my most valued kitchen tools for uniform slicing, julienning, and making brunoise (a julienne turned into a dice). By far my most valuable electric device in my kitchen is the hand blender—I use Braun that seems no longer unavailable, but I bought this Cuisinart version for my mom ($99) and it works well—these devices all do the job of Read On »

Shopping: Big Ticket Items

These are the big ticket recommendations from last year (and the year before, with several additions) because, well, the best equipment, like fundamental technique, doesn’t change. I always advise buying fewer items of high quality. Hope everyone had a happy and festive thanksgiving! My go-to pot is the 7-quart Dutch Oven . It’s what I bought my beloved Dad long ago; now, sadly, I have two of them. My other favorite is the braiser, the everyday pot in which you can cook just about anything. (Here’s one of the videos we did, where I use this pot to make an easy cassoulet.) I’m also partial to the smaller “ovens”—the 3.5-quart version is perfect if you cook for only one or two people. For stainless-steel cookware, All-Clad is the best. Here are their saucepans, plus a big sauté Read On »

Cyber Monday 40% Off

I regret I’m not the sort to come out with a new brand of, say, Cheerios because the gluten-free, whole wheat Cheerios are old. I will soon recommend the same pans as last year, because good things last. That, ultimately, is why I care about the products I and Mac make. I love all of them. They’re good and they last. In keeping with Cyber Monday, and happily at that, we’re discounting all kitchen tools for this day. All of them are my favorites; why make anything else?. (Also, I just saw the movie Spotlight and it’s every bit as extraordinary as people are saying; go see it; but remember that a good wood spoon will last longer). And always remember during this stress-filled season, it will all work out in the end. So don’t stress. Read On »

Holiday Classic: Gravy & Cranberry Sauce

I’m reposting this Cranberry Sauce and Gravy from scratch from November 21, 2012, because they’re every bit as good now as it was then: My dad made this cranberry sauce when my daughter was very young. He was mystified, as I recall, having never cooked cranberries before, always used the kind with can-ribs, sliceable. That his granddaughter loved it made it very special to him. He continued to make it. His granddaughter is no longer four but rather seventeen and she will be making it this year (and so did I, because I wanted to share it in this post and think of my dad while it cooked). It’s really simple, can be done today or the day of (or several days ahead, next year). Just throw everything in the pot, bring it to a simmer, Read On »

Holiday Classic: Dressing

I’m in the Miami airport, Cleveland bound, having been a part of the amazing Miami Book Fair to promote my new collection of novellas, In Short Measures, love stories. Met some hero fiction writers, such as Elizabeth McCracken, whose “Thunderstruck” is one of the best short stories I’ve read in years. Also Mary Gaitskill, who scares the shit out of me, Rick Moody, who does not, Mary Karr, on whom I crush, and new writer friends Les Standiford, John Dufresne, and Cindi Chinelly. What a great fair, thanks to Mitchell Kaplan and Books & Books. Reposting the following for those looking for a delicious and simple Thanksgiving dressing: The nice thing about blogging as opposed to newspapering is that I don’t feel the obligation to always come up with a new way of roasting turkey Read On »