Adam D. Roberts's Blog, page 133

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Despite this month's banner, one of my favorite dishes to serve in summer is an heirloom tomato salad. It's a dish that does the work for you: just buy an array of quirkily beautiful heirloom tomatoes--as many colors and shapes as you can find at the farmer's market--cut them into slices or wedges and serve them with torn-bread croutons, green basil (plus purple basil if you can find it) and some shaved ricotta salata on top. The finished plate looks something like this....

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The Taste Test: Chardonnay

Here's the next video in the new series I'm doing for Food2.com. This time, I taste Chardonnay--one $10 bottle, one $15 bottle and one $20 bottle--to see if I can tell the difference. All the bottles were from California (two from the same vineyard) so the only real difference was price. Does price make a difference? Wach the video to find out!

Tomato Attack, Community, Newsletter

The new banner's here; load up the site afresh and check out the killer heirloom tomatoes created by the lovely and talented Lindy Groening. (Thx to Justin Dickinson for doing the under-the-hood work). Meanwhile, The Community Blog's really picking up steam: check out this recipe for homemade Horchata & this post about making your own soy milk. Finally, I just sent out Newsletter #17 (see here). If you liked it, subscribe by clicking here.

Frank Bruni's "Born Round"

Iconic male food writers like A.J. Liebling and R.W. Apple were large men; they flaunted their girth in ways that their female counterparts (M.F.K. Fisher, Elizabeth David, Ruth Reichl) did not. Their weight helped them cultivate an aura of power and authority; it's easy to imagine them sitting in a brown leather chair, patting their tummies after a large meal, smoking a very expensive cigar and sipping a very fine Brandy. But to quote the Monkees: that was then and this is now.

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My First Trip To Kalustyan's

My Twitter followers were shocked--no, outraged!--when I announced last week that I'd never been to Kalustyan's, the international foods store on Lexington Ave. in Murray Hill. Food52's MerrillStubb's Tweeted: "NO! (Can't believe it.)" Savour Tweeted: "You haven't been to Kalustyan's? May be the #1 thing I miss most about NYC. That and Bemelman's Bar." JosePiano Tweeted: "WHAT?!?!?!? And it was even included on your Scavenger Hunt!"

Clearly, I'd ruffled a few feathers with my...

Don't-Miss-The-Meat Vegetarian Chili

I love chili, but ever since reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and watching "Food Inc." I have a hard time making it with ground beef. Of course, on special occasions, I make Michael Symon's recipe with slab bacon and pork shoulder, but last Wednesday wasn't a special occasion. No: it was just a weeknight and as I found myself wandering the aisles of Gourmet Garage, I wondered: "What if I just get a bunch of vegetables and beans and cook them the way I cook Michael Symon's chili? Ya know...

The Taste Test: Chocolate

Above you'll see the first video in my latest video series for Food2.com. I got the idea for this show while reading Kim Severson's book "Spoon Fed." On pg. 49 she writes, "To understand good chocolate, you have to know bad chocolate, and you should experience them side by side. It's a method that has helped me through the years, whether I am tasting water, salt, milk, ground beef or any other food that might not seem to have much variation."

And thus the idea for this show: a show where ...

Chicago Bound

Hey readers, I'm heading to Chicago the 2nd week of August to cook with chefs and home cooks for my next book and I need your help. Who are your favorite Chicago chefs? What are your favorite Chicago restaurants? It'd be great if you could share the less obvious ones (yes, I've reached out to Rick Bayless...still haven't heard back!); also if you know any stand-out home cooks with unique stories or cooking styles, let me know that too. Thanks!

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Zucchini with Almonds

What's that expression about teachers learning from their students? Is there an expression like that? There really should be.

You may recall that for my cookbook I have an intern named Tyla working with me. Tyla herself has a food blog called "Learning To Live Without A Microwave" and on her blog last week I saw an excellent recipe for "Zucchini Saute with Toasted Almonds." Now Tyla got the recipe from my friend Deb of Smitten Kitchen who titled the post "My Favorite Side Dish"; Deb, in...

Raid-The-Fridge Frittata

I don't often ask you to get out of your seat while reading my blog, but for the frittata you see in the above picture I demand a standing ovation!

I mean, really. Can you believe that I made that? Not only did I make that, I made that bleary-eyed on a Saturday morning using just the ingredients I had on hand. And Craig, who didn't know what to expect when I said I was making a frittata, couldn't stop raving about the results. "This is like professional restaurant quality food," he...