Michael Ruhlman's Blog, page 67

Stock Clarifications

Last April, I wrote a post about leaving stock out on the stove top claiming that it would be safe to eat provided that you brought it to a simmer before eating. Indeed I've been doing this for a decade with no ill effects. On twitter and on the post itself, I received voluminous responses. [...]

Tomatoes

It's one of my enduring childhood memories, a gift from my mom.  I was seven or eight, my mom in her early thirties, late morning, august sun, we stared at the six full tomato plants we grew behind our garage.  I don't know if she actually spoke but her urgent and determined movements said, "Let's [...]

How To Prepare and Cook Beef Heart

Heart is an excellent muscle to eat: it's lean and flavorful (meaty but not organy—it's a hard working muscle, not squishy spleen), it's got a good bite, and it's inexpensive (I bought the three-pound grass-fed beef heart for six bucks last Saturday). And one more thing: it puts to use a cut that is often [...]

Corn Tortilla Soup

Donna and I spent half the day yesterday shooting the promotional video for our new book, out next month, and I figured I should ask our videographer, Cynthia Albanese, to shoot as much video as possible.  So in addition to describing the book, I also roasted a chicken, made stock and made a soup from [...]

How To Prepare a Simple Crab Boil

By far the best meal of the summer was our crab boil during our week in Ocracoke.  And like many "best" meals, it was unplanned, a surprise, a gift we were smart enough to take advantage of.  Donna has pals from her native Port Washington, NY, who have houses here, one of whom owns a [...]

Beer Vinegar/Food As Solace

Three years ago on this date, a Saturday, Donna, my mom, I, the kids, our dear friend Stu, and the dog spent the morning standing vigil as my father succumbed to the lung cancer. Mom had gone to the farmer's market and gotten corn and she and I stood at the kitchen island plowing through [...]

Friday Grilling: Easy Bearnaise Sauce

One of the conundrum of grilling meat is that the process of cooking doesn't start a sauce for you, as a roast chicken does, as pan roasting a pork loin does, as all braises do. What then to sauce the meat with?  An emulsified butter sauce is the perfect answer.  And there is no better [...]

The New Offset Spoons Are Here!

They're here at last, the reason Mac and I began this venture, the offset spoon, aka the Basting Tasting and Saucing spoon. These are the most versatile spoons in the kitchen, beautifully balanced, gorgeously designed, incredibly practical. My son James shot and did most of the editing on this video, for which I'm grateful; thanks [...]

Gluten-Free Fried Chicken

I accidentally upgraded my wordpress account and it wreaked havoc.  Lost all kinds of posts and it broke countless links.  F@$#!  One of the many post sent off unanchored into the ethernet was this guest post (and photo) by freelance writer Stephanie Stiavetti. It was so popular I felt bad when people began complaining they [...]

How To Roast a Suckling Pig

Chefs Christine Cikowski and Joshua Kulp, among the growing legions who are making our food better and helping us to appreciate it more, call their moveable feast Sunday Dinner Club because it evoked a time when their families shared a long meal together.  Sharing meals with the people you love is far more important than I'd [...]