Adam D. Roberts's Blog, page 134

Pickled Sugar Snap Peas

There's a very hip restaurant in my neighborhood called Joseph Leonard; you go there, and everyone else is either more attractive or more wealthy than you. There's a very cool bathroom with a medicine cabinet over the sink that has Q-tips, Altoids and tampons (I bet women wish more restaurant bathrooms had tampons; or maybe they do and that's just a secret between women and restaurants?) and on every table a little jar of cornichons. It's that little jar of cornichons (not the tampons...

Operation: Pie Rescue

When I write about pie on my blog, it's usually for comic relief.

Apparently, my friend Morgan thought it was hilarious when I wrote about my "Patched-Together Rhubarb Pie." It's true: I'm comically bad at rolling out pie dough. (Though Pim's latest post "One Pie Dough To Rule Them All" makes me think I'll have to give that technique a whirl.)

Even when I get the rolling-out right, though, things go wrong. Case in point: the blueberry pie I made last week.

Six-Hour Ribs

Oh blog, you poor, neglected thing, I've abandoned you for almost a week! I was in Washington, D.C. cooking with three chefs for my cookbook and before I knew it I was back and it was the weekend.

So let's catch up. How've you been? As you know, I've been busy--scheduling, cooking, writing, traveling--but before I left for D.C. it was July 4th and I made dinner for my brother and his wife Tali. I made those ribs you see above; don't they look good? They cooked for six hours in the oven...

New Banner & Newsletter #13

Check out this month's new banner, inspired by a fruit crate. Thanks to Lindy for designing it and Justin for implementing it. In other news, this week's newsletter (click here) features visits to The Spotted Pig, Ippudo NY, Tomoe Sushi and Torrisi Italian Specialties. If you'd like to subscribe, click here.

S'more Bars

You know how some people use Memorial Day and Labor Day to delineate time? As in: "We bought our house around Memorial Day" or "We're spending the summer in Cape Cod and we come back around Labor Day"? I always nod and smile when people do that but truthfully, I never remember when Memorial Day or Labor Day fall. July 4th, however, is different. It's a holiday with its date built right into the title. And, having just glanced at the calendar, I'm fairly certain this weekend is July 4th...

The One Cup Coffee Maker

You may know this about me already but there was a time, over six years ago, when I was a law student working in a law firm. And this law firm had a little coffee room and the coffee room had a machine that made individual cups of coffee; you chose your flavor--often the highlight of my day, in that dreary place--and once you selected your pod, you slid it into a slot, pushed a button and voila! There was your very own personalized cup of coffee.

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Deviled Eggs, Three Ways

There was the lobster salad, a big bag of potato chips and some cookies I'd received in the mail. Was that enough to feed four people? I'd need some kind of appetizer. I didn't have time to go to the store. What did I have in my refrigerator? Pesto, a jar of cornichons, and Sriracha. And eggs. A plan began to form in my head, a plan involving eggs and THE DEVIL.

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How To Make Your Own Lobster Rolls

There's a lot of hubbub in New York, lately, about lobster rolls. Apparently there's a glut of lobsters (see this New York Magazine article) and new lobster shacks are sprouting up all over the city. My loyalty, as always, belongs to Pearl Oyster Bar which makes the best lobster roll I've ever had. But did you know that its chef, Rebecca Charles, once taught me how to make her signature lobster roll for a video Craig and I did for Serious Eats? And did you know that, since then, I've made s...

Pies n' Thighs

It took two trains to meet my friend Cole for lunch in Williamsburg--a D to Grand Street and then a J to Marcy Ave.--and for some, that might be a long way to go for a lunch time meal. Not me: especially when that lunch time meal is comprised of fried chicken and pie.

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A Rice Cooker

Recently, I received a rice cooker from a company called Zojirushi which happens to be the #1 rice cooker manufacturer in Japan. I know that because the P.R. e-mail said so and it also assured me that even though I didn't think I needed a rice cooker, I did in fact need one: "Now that I've been using one consistently for 4 years," said the e-mail, "I can't imagine cooking rice without one."

Needless to say, I was dubious.

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