Adam D. Roberts's Blog, page 138

Bananas Foster Bread

As a kid, I was a sucker for platitudes. Especially this one, which I heard at EPCOT: "If you can dream it, you can do it!"

Things don't change that much, I suppose: this weekend I had a dream and I decided that I could do it. The dream was Bananas Foster Bread. I wanted the concentrated banana flavor of Bannas Foster integrated into a bread. I didn't really know how to do this, but I used my intuition. I started by making Bananas Foster and then separated the bananas from the sauce...

On Taking Pictures of Your Food

For the past six years, I've taken a picture of almost everything I've eaten.

Yesterday, for example, I took a picture of my lunch. I was at The New French with my friend Diana and I had an interesting salmon salad with escarole and a Muscadet vinaigrette: I took a picture with my cell phone. The night before I'd made a spatchcocked chicken and of course I took pictures. Lunch that day was a humdrum hummus at Hummus Place, but you get the drift: I take pictures of what I eat.

What does t...

Greek Salad

It's true that travel is an important component of any burgeoning chef's education, but sometimes you go somewhere and the lessons don't stick. For example, I spent ten days last summer in Spain--most of that time in Barcelona--and though we ate some truly extraordinary food, I can't really say that it changed the way I cook. Yes, I use smoked paprika a bit more freely in my food and I'm very intrigued by the possibilities of pairing chickpeas with seafood, but beyond that? I'm still the...

How To Roast a Leg of Lamb

"Pete's Dragon" is a movie I hadn't seen since childhood. I remember being terrified of Shelly Winters, covered in all that mud, and bored by the Helen Reddy boyfriend-lost-at-sea subplot. But when my friend Chris Dufault stated recently that "Pete's Dragon" is one of his favorite movies, I felt a sudden need to see it again. And so we made a "Pete's Dragon night": Chris would bring the DVD and his boyfriend Jonathan and I'd cook something appropriate that'd complement the viewing...

Newsletter #6

If you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, you're missing out. Today's issue had a dirty word, a cous-cous salad, a bird-watching adventure, my mom's restaurant reading glasses (they have lights on them) and brunch at Perry Street. Just because I'm feeling nice, you can read today's issue by clicking here and then sign-up by clicking here.

People Dropping Cakes

It's a beautiful Saturday here in New York which means it's a PERFECT time to stay indoors and assemble a collection of YouTube videos of people dropping cakes.

Click here to read the rest of this Amateur Gourmet post »

NYC Intern

If you live in New York, love food, have a flexible schedule and you're eager to pad your resumé with some real-world food-publishing experience, I'm looking for an intern to work with me on the cookbook I'm writing for Artisan. Duties include: travel planning, schedule coordinating, research, food shopping, recipe testing, assisting the photographer, and eating delicious food. If interested, please tell me about yourself in an e-mail (send to: amateurgourmet@gmail.com), why this project inte...

Patched-Together Rhubarb Pie

Delusional isn't a word I'd use to describe myself. Sure, I have my flights of fancy and my exaggerated sense of what's happening at any given moment, but am I so-out-of-touch that I deserve the "D" word? Doubtful!

But I was delusional on Saturday when I took a bunch of rhubarb--rhubarb that I'd purchased with Deb of Smitten Kitchen, issuing a challenge in the process ("Let's have a contest to see who does the better thing with this rhubarb")--and convinced myself that I could casually...

Penne with Ramp Pesto, Asparagus & Peas

I'll admit, I get lazy when it comes to eating seasonally. It's easier to pop into the grocery store across the street, where lemons, onions and garlic look the same the whole year round, than it is to march all the way up to the Union Square Greenmarket on a windy or rainy spring day. On a Saturday, however, the rules change: I forcibly remove myself from the world wide web and make a point, especially in spring, summer and fall, to go pay a visit to the Union Square farmers. Sometimes I c...

Scavenger Hunt Results 2010

At first the idea of tallying up the points for the 2nd Annual Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt seemed tedious; but then, once I started doing it this morning, I found myself laughing out loud at some of the pictures and smiling at some of the captions. The best caption was the one at the end of Stephanie's Scavenger Hunt: "Completely exhausted, really well-fed, and so full of great memories! This was one of the best weekends we've had in NY."

Click here to read the...