Michael Ruhlman's Blog, page 71

System Issues

Sorry, my site is having issues, but we're working on getting them fixed.  I'll update everything once it's up and running smoothly. Hope it will be soon.  This is very frustrating!  Thanks for your patience.

The "No Nitrites Added" Hoax

During a recent phone call with the excellent Elise of simplyrecipes, Elise wished aloud that I would address the nitrite issue directly.  "Trader Joe's carries it!  Go look.  Is there one near you?" Indeed there is, and indeed they sell at least two products pitching themselves as a "healthier" bacon because they don't add sodium [...]

Whole Hog: Ham Stuffed in Bladder

I've been learning from the hog all week it seems. It just keeps giving.  Making salami, curing all parts.  Tenderloin and loin and coppa.  I've made a lot of fresh sausage and the headcheese is underway, the last of the hams are coming off the cure. Including this one, a portion of the ham, from [...]

Veal Salt

Veal stock is an amazing elixir because it enhances the flavors around it without imposing its own flavor. It adds depth and body to food, but always to liquids, soups, stocks and sauces. My call for innovative uses of veal stock changed that with Josh Kantor's veal salt (see the other winners here). Josh Kantor [...]

Whole Hog

On Saturday I picked up a hog from the North Union Farmers Market, about 330 pounds with the head and some other requested parts. "They're big, long and slippery," James had told us.  Just getting each half into the back of our jeep was an effort.  The first step was to break the pig down [...]

Veal Stock Contest Winners

First, I love love love all these suggestions from the Veal Stock Contest post.  There were great drinks, including jello shots. I love the Bloody Mary with diced demi cubes (see below).  The above is the cocktail is a meal; veal stock gives it body and umami and nutrition: 1 ounce tomato juice 1 ounce [...]

Serving Foie Gras At Home

Foie gras has a reputation for being fancy.  Many don't understand what it is.  When I served my dad a seared slice of foie gras, the liver of a fattened duck, he looked at it surprised. "I thought foie gras was pâté," he said. Often foie gras is made into a pâté, but not always. [...]

The Birth of a Torchon

One of my favorite things on earth to eat is a well made foie gras torchon. It's a special preparation of foie gras, fat duck liver, that I first experienced at The French Laundry (the recipe is in The French Laundry Cookbook if you have it).  It's a three day procedure and brings out the [...]

The Importance of Sharp Knives

OpenSky's knife sharpener offer to people who follow me there forced me to think about sharp knives (I had to write the copy). Normally, I only think about sharp knives when they aren't. Here's the fact: the biggest problem in home kitchens is dull knives. There is no greater hindrance to the person in the [...]

Veal Stock Contest!

Regular readers know I'm a veal stock evangelist. Veal stock is one of those magical ingredients that can transform a mediocre cook into an ohmyfuckinggodthisfoodisamazing cook. Really, it's that powerful. My first piece for Gourmet magazine was about veal stock. My veal stock recipe is in the Gourmet cookbook. In Elements of Cooking, a 242-page [...]