Michael Ruhlman's Blog, page 21

My Books for Cooks

It’s been a busy publishing year, both frustrating (for many, many months Amazon made it hard for people to buy my books, mine and thousands of others, due to a dispute with Hachette) and exciting. I don’t think I’ve ever published two books in the same year. The big book is Egg: A Culinary Exploration of the World’s Most Versatile Ingredient. (Chris Kimball of America’s Test Kitchen last week picked it as one of his favorites. Thanks Chris, and sorry no macarons! The egg is inexhaustible; I couldn’t put every form of meringue in there!) My publisher, Little, Brown, also created an absolutely killer interactive iBook based on the ingenious egg flow chart I created. Yes, ingenious. Ferran Adrià even said so! The second book is Ruhlman’s How to Roast: Foolproof Techniques and Recipes for the Home Cook, Read On »

Celebrate World Soil Day, Dec. 5

The following post by my fellow writer and former neighbor, Kristin Ohlson, is in honor of World Soil Day. Kristin argues in her excellent book, The Soil Will Save Us, how important it is to think of our soil as a living thing, which it is—healthy soil teems with life. She compares it to a coral reef in her book, and rightly so, as she elaborates in this short post.—M.R.   by Kristin Ohlson I was visiting a friend in New Jersey’s bucolic countryside – no, not an oxymoron. Knowing my fondness for farms, he took me down the road to visit Bobby, the man who sells him eggs. We soon stood on a windy hilltop near Bobby’s home, surrounded by fields in which feathery green lines of wheat radiated into the distance separated by bare Read On »

Holiday Shopping: Small Ticket Items

  Continuing holiday shopping week, and again reposting from last year as the 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 ($23) 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  ($60) and it works well—these devices all do the job of pureeing soups and sauces, Read On »

Shopping: Big Ticket Items

This is the big ticket recommendations from last year (and the year before) because, well, the best equipment, lke fundamental technique, doesn’t change. Hope everyone had a happy and festive thanksgiving! It’s time again for my picks for the big-ticket items, those expensive appliances and pots that are game changers, but real investments. I’ve just started a relationship with Le Creuset, the company that makes the best enameled cast-iron cookware on earth. My go-to pot is the 7-quart Dutch Oven (they’re made in France and the company wants me to call them French ovens, which I find interesting since there really should no longer be a nationality attached to the thing; my preferred name for this one is “My Favorite Pot”). It’s what I bought my beloved Dad long ago; now, sadly, I have two Read On »

Cyber Monday! All Ruhlman Tools 50% Off

Hope everyone had a happy and bountiful holiday. Yes, it’s Cyber Monday! And we’re making all the tools from shop.ruhlman.com 50% off. Be sure to use the promo code: eggnog into the designated field. Mac and I made these tools to make cooking easier and more fun; and their distinctive looks makes them a good influence in the kitchen even when you’re not cooking with them. These tools began with the simple offset spoon, still my favorite. Great for basting and skimming as it dips naturally into the pan. The offsetness let to offset soup spoons, ones that won’t slide into the soup! And then the big offset serving spoon. Of coarse the flat edged wooden paddles are a must in every kitchen. I don’t care what Ted Allen says. I travel with them. But the whole Read On »

Holiday Classics: Thanksgiving Gravy & Cranberry Sauce

This is a repost from November 21, 2012 featuring Michael’s Cranberry Sauce and Gravy from scratch. 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, and set a timer for 90 minutes. Read On »

Holiday Classic: 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 or a new stuffing or new cranberry sauce or a new kind of gravy. The classics are classics. So herewith, the way I make “stuffing,” just as good as last year’s. I stopped stuffing our Thanksgiving turkey reluctantly, as the stuffing was always my favorite part of the meal when Grandma Spamer made it. But my goal became a perfectly cooked bird, and you can’t cook a turkey perfectly if it’s stuffed. So now I make what we must refer to as dressing, no matter what Mario says (“That’s what you put on a salad.”). Dressing denotes that it’s stuffing cooked in a pan. And it can still Read On »

How to Roast a Turkey

It’s the annual nationwide freak-out. That damned turkey! So many questions, so much uncertainty! I hope this goes a little ways toward easing your mind if you are among the turkey afflicted. Of course, a detailed recipe and process shots are in my latest book, Ruhlman’s How to Roast. For the last couple of years I’ve recommended a roast-braise hybrid. This year a straightforward roast, from the book. Publishers Weekly published a full-on version (see below). Here I just want to go through the basics. You must have good turkey stock on hand, which is easy to do, but you can also buy low-sodium organic broth as well. Stuff the cavity full of onions and lemon and carrots and celery to keep hot air from circulating in the bird’s cavity and overcooking the breast. Truss Read On »

The 5 Winners of How To Roast!

Many thanks to all who took the time to comment. So much fun to read. My able assistant used randomizer to choose the winners. Here they are! Email me your shipping addresses if you read this but I’ll also be in touch via email. Elliott Papineau Carrots! Finished with reduced carrot and orange juice. Tonya I love a mix of roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, yellow onion and brussels sprouts with garlic and olive oil or a salsa/enchilada sauce made by roasted tomatillos, onion, garlic and chili pepper until charred then blending. Depending on what I am doing with the sauce maybe adding in some crema/yogurt to add smooth tang. Rita Connelly i love roasting. Chicken is my favorite. And you. Michael, are one of my favorite food writers. I write about food as well; reviews Read On »

Roasted Root Vegetables & Book Giveaway

  Two reasons to celebrate today: the publication of the first in a series of technique books, How To Roast, and the end of the Hachette-Amazon book pricing war. Presumably Amazon will no longer hide my or other Little Brown authors, or any of the six houses Hachette runs (they’ve just placed an order, my publisher tells me so should have next week, till then if you want to purchase to so through indies or B&N links below. And the way to celebrate is to give away signed copies of the book! I will be giving away FIVE copies to randomly chosen commenters. You must in the comments tell me either your favorite food to roast, or, if it is chicken (my fave), what your favorite side dish is to accompany it. (Can only do Read On »