Adam D. Roberts's Blog, page 144

The Best Tuna Sandwich in New York is at The New French

Recently, I had my friends Rob and Kath over for dinner. They live in our building and we were chatting about the neighborhood, our favorite places to eat and, inevitably, The New French came up. "You know it's funny," I said. "At first I didn't love The New French, but recently I discovered their tuna sandwich and it's seriously the best tuna sandwich of my life."

"You didn't just discover it," said Rob.

"What?"

"You blogged about it," he insisted. "Last year."

I challenged ...

Caramelized-Apple Skillet Cake

I had the apples, I had the butter, I had the sugar, the vanilla extract, and even the cornmeal. Jimmy was coming to dinner (see here) and, with only an hour or two to prep, I knew there had to be dessert. So I yanked down Karen DeMasco's newest book, The Craft of Baking, and followed her instructions for a caramelized-apple skillet cake.

For a quick, last-minute dessert it was perhaps a bit ambitious to attempt a riff on a tarte tatin (that French pastry of carmelized...

Food Writing 101

For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, some exciting news: I'll be teaching an online food writing class for the Gotham Writers' Workhop next month. The class is eleven weeks, features direct feedback from yours truly on your writing samples, and--the coolest part--a workshop with New York Times food writer extraordinaire, Kim Severson. For more info on the class, click here.

How To Cook On A Budget

I didn't grow up in a house with cooking, so food shopping was always a bit casual: a box of this, a bag of that. We'd have Fruit Roll-Ups in the cabinet and ice cream sandwiches in the freezer and so, when I became an adult and lived in my first adult apartment in college, I shopped the same way. I'd go to the store and buy a few frozen pizzas, a packet of cheese, a loaf of bread. There wasn't much thought behind it; the idea was when we weren't ordering in Chinese food or going down to E...

Thomas Keller's Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Roasting a chicken is a very personal thing; those of us who are regular chicken roasters (and, in the winter, roasting a chicken is almost a weekly act for me) know what we like. For me, that's a combination of fennel seeds, cayenne pepper, and kosher salt on the outside of the skin and thyme stuffed inside (see here). That recipe comes from the Chez Panisse cookbook and no matter how many other roast chicken recipes I try--the River Cottage one, for example--no chicken has been able to...

Sardines, Mustard & Triscuits

It all happened very quickly. My friend Jimmy IMed me and asked what we were up to, we said nada, decided to all go to a movie but first, I invited him over for dinner. "It won't be fancy," I warned. "Probably just some pasta." (I had penne in the cabinet and cauliflower in the refrigerator, so I knew I could make this recipe, minus the broccoli.) But after the plan was set, my hosting gene kicked in and I felt the need to also make a dessert and an appetizer. The dessert? I'll tell you...

Fill 'Er Up

Are you cold? I know the feeling which is why this month's banner puts me to work helping you overcome the chill. Thanks, of course, to our marvelous illustrator Lindy Groening (this month's one of my favorites) and to Justin Dickinson for making the banner fly. Now: would you like yours milk, bittersweet or unleaded? Please pay at the pump.

My Favorite Recipes of 2009

Craig's sister Kristin and I joke that I should have a catchphrase, that when I meet new people I should declare, with mock-sincerity: "Food is my passion." Ok, maybe you have to be there for that concept to be funny, but regardless, food IS my passion and this year I feel like my cooking is entering the realm of "he's no amateur." Sure, I had my doozies. Remember my burnt sticky buns? My flambé incident? And yesterday, I made hummus for lunch in my blender and added way too much chickpea w...

My Favorite Restaurant Meals of 2009

This was the year of El Bulli, the year of Barcelona, the year of Austin, Texas and San Juan, Puerto Rico. In other words: this year was a pretty extraordinary eating year for yours truly, The A.G., maybe my best eating year on record. I've gone through my archives and studied all the restaurant meals I've consumed and I have a team of doctors and the crew of A&E's "Intervention" standing by, ready to escort me to intensive decadence therapy once I share with you my Top 10 Restaurant Meals ...

Easy Pain D'Epice

Sometimes a recipe grabs my attention not because it sounds particularly delicious but because the method by which you make it is so peculiar, I just have to try it.

Such was the case with the recipe for Pain D'Epice in Canal House Cooking Volume 2. Other recipes for Pain D'Epice, a French spice bread, are packed with, well, spices. Nancy Silverton's has fennel seeds, black pepper and lots of ginger; David Lebovitz's has cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; the Canal House pain d'epice has no s...