Adam D. Roberts's Blog, page 122

Pour-Over Coffee

Food journalists notice food trends---"this is the year of the nutmeg martini!" "oatmeal's out, grits are back in"--and I'm not a food journalist, so I feel like I get a free pass on that front. I just cook, blog and eat (not always in that order) and go about my merry way.

But last year, I thought I noticed a food trend creeping up at the coffee shops I frequented. I noticed it at Joe, then I noticed it at Gorilla. They were these little copper stands with white ceramic objects sitting on top that looked like a cross between a coffee mug and a funnel. Had it really happened? Had I hit upon a food trend?

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"The Sweet Life" Winners Chosen

Click here to see the winners of our contest to give away three copies of David Lebovitz's "The Sweet Life." Thanks to all who participated!

Food Book Giveaway: David Lebovitz's "The Sweet Life"

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My friend David Lebovitz wrote a wonderful book about living in Paris called "The Sweet Life" (read my write-up about it here) and now that it's out in paperback, his publisher has generously agreed to donate THREE copies to readers of The Amateur Gourmet. If you'd like to win a copy, make up a French dish that doesn't really exist and describe it in the comments. The best three win. [Make sure to enter a valid e-mail address when you enter your info and then check back here, to this specific post, to see the winners on Wednesday morning.]

A Shaving Dilemma

This month's banner finds me stuck in the bathroom at the (imaginary?) Hotel El Bulli with a shaving dilemma. Thanks to the brilliant Lindy Groening for bringing this idea to life and to Raphael Brion for hanging it on the wall. To see Lindy's previous banners, click here.

French Toad-in-the-Hole

What if you wake up tomorrow morning, tomorrow being Saturday, and you find yourself craving something savory, but you have all the ingredients for making French Toast?

Do you kowtow to your lazy, uninspired side and start heating the maple syrup, or do you allow inspiration to strike? Choose the latter path, the one less traveled by, and you will wind up with what I wound up with last week: French Toad-in-the-Hole!

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Fusilli with Tomatoes, Bacon & Blue Cheese

There it was, in the pan, ready to eat. A big panful of fusilli, coated in a sauce I'd improvised with bacon, red chile flakes, tomato paste and a can of tomatoes. I'd let the sauce cook down until it was nice and thick and then boiled the fusilli until just al dente, lifting it with a spider into the pan of red sauce. I stirred it all around, ready to grate on a traditional cheese like Parmesan or Pecorino, when I had a vision.

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The Negroni

At the bar of Michael Symons's Lola in Cleveland, Ohio, I first encountered the Negroni.

Michael Ruhlman, who was there to participate in a segment we were shooting for Food Network online, ordered the drink and I asked him about it. "It has Campari," he told me, "gin and sweet vermouth." I ordered one too and when it came I assumed, because of the bright red color, that it would be sweet. I was very, very wrong.

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Dinner with Two Atlanta Food Critics at Peter Chang's

In 2004, Atlanta Journal-Constitution food critic John Kessler wrote an article about me and my blog called "Welcome to Adam's." (You can read it here.)

At the time, food blogging was very, very new and Kessler was baffled and amused by my antics: "Why does this recent Emory law school grad record every meal he eats out — whether a lackluster slice at Johnny's Pizza or an extravagant tasting menu at Per Se, the new Manhattan sibling to California's French Laundry? Why does he post photos of everything?"

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An Oscar & A Milkshake

It's not every day that your friend wins an Oscar. But on Sunday night, our friend Luke (who went to film school with Craig) won an Oscar for his short film, "God of Love." (You can watch it on iTunes here.)

For anyone who watched the Oscars, you'll remember his speech (New York Magazine called it one of the evening's best moments.) Luke gave me his permission to post the above photo on my blog....

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Collecting Vintage Menus to Hang in My Kitchen

I'm not sure how the idea came to me. How did it come to me?

Ok, I was in San Francisco, staying with my friends Kristen & Felix, and I had a bit of a cold (another illness! Proof that I'm dying?) While coughing and sneezing in their guest bedroom, I was noodling around on the internet and found myself on E-Bay. And while on E-Bay (a site I rarely visit) I had the sudden idea to search for vintage menus. And a new addiction was born....

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