Adam D. Roberts's Blog, page 43

Turkey Leg Confit (Fancy Dinner, Cheap Ingredient)

America’s obsession with breasts goes far beyond the pages of Maxim magazine; it’s readily apparent in the poultry section. A large chicken breast for two now costs as much as a whole chicken. And a turkey breast can run as much as $15. America: stop your obsession with cleavage and lower your head a little. See those legs down there? They’re just as meaty, ten times more flavorful and very, very cheap. How cheap? Look how much I paid for these two enormous turkey legs.

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Top Chef New Orleans Cartoon Recap, Episode 1

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Cooking For A Chef

At first I wasn’t nervous. Or, at least, I told myself I wasn’t nervous. My friend Barrett Foa, who agreed to come on The Clean Plate Club, told me that his dream food guest would be Suzanne Tracht, the celebrated chef at Jar here in Los Angeles (also, a Top Chef Master). Before I knew it, Chef Tracht agreed to come over and I found myself in a position I’d never been in before: I was going to cook for a chef. I’d never cooked for a chef before. What would I make? How should I serve it? The night before the dinner, I was wide awake in bed, unable to fall asleep.

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The Clean Plate Club, Episode #10: Barrett Foa, Suzanne Tracht

I was positively giddy about this week’s Clean Plate Club guests: Barrett Foa, who first entered my consciousness as the star of Avenue Q on Broadway and who’s now a regular on one of the most popular shows in the country (NCIS: Los Angeles) and Top Chef Master and culinary legend Suzanne Tracht, chef/owner of Jar. With these guests, we got to talk about two of my favorite subjects: cooking and musical theater! Oh and deforestation. Just kidding, we didn’t talk about deforestation. But here’s some other stuff that’s covered…

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Chocolate Malteds

Most people who buy malt powder do so to make malteds, not homemade everything bagels. But days after making those bagels, I found myself with a perfectly good carton of malt powder and, having made a chickpea stew for dinner, I figured: “Hey, we deserve some chocolate malteds.” Here’s the thing about chocolate malteds: you don’t make them with chocolate ice cream. You make them with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.

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Life with an Oven Window

Here’s a screenplay pitch (boy, I’m getting so L.A.): a young man lives for years without an oven window and then suddenly he moves into an apartment with an oven window. Are you sold yet? The oven window allows him to watch cakes as they cook so he doesn’t have to open the oven to check on them, keeping the heat trapped inside. It also allows him to watch chicken turn golden brown, vegetables sizzle on a baking sheet as they roast. Ok, ok, what if there’s a wacky neighbor played by Jack Black? A villainous oven repairman played by Vince Vaughn? You’re not sold. Fine. Maybe this works better as a memoir…

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Marcella Hazan’s Immortal Tomato Sauce Recipe

While Craig was gone these past nine days, I found myself watching a lot of True Blood on HBO Go. I’m still finishing up Season One, so no spoilers please, but I found myself quite choked up at a moment that was a subtle one, as far as the series goes. Sookie, the protagonist, is mourning the loss of a relative (see, I’m not spoiling it either) who–before dying–made a pecan pie, half of which remains in the refrigerator. At the wake, Sookie freaks out when someone tries to remove it; at the end of the episode, she eats the pecan pie and cries. What got me was this notion that through our food we live on even after our death. The ingredients that we use are merely objects, but how we combine those objects–with our touch, our sense of taste–is a manifestation of our spirit. It’s also true of the recipes we leave behind. And so, in the real world, we mourned the loss of Italian cooking legend Marcella Hazan this weekend and last night I could think of no greater tribute than to make her celebrated tomato sauce with butter–a sauce that every home cook should know.

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Reasons To Make A Crumb Cake This Weekend

1. Because it’s the weekend and you can eat whatever you want and not get fat.

2. Because crumb cake works equally well as breakfast, as an afternoon snack, a post-dinner dessert or a late night treat.

3. You have four sticks of butter in your refrigerator and you don’t know what to do with them.

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Beating Jet Lag

Here’s some great advice on Kottke.org about beating jet lag by changing your diet. This will come in handy in five weeks when I make the 19 hour journey to Perth!

Stuffed Eggplant with Lamb and Pine Nuts

Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem is so popular Julia Moskin of The New York Times did an article about “Jerusalem fever.” Do I have Jerusalem fever? Well, I’ve been cooking from it gradually, making that fattoush a few months ago, and that beet dip I posted about yesterday. The beet dip was for this week’s Clean Plate Club and the entree, also from Jerusalem, is the one you see above: eggplant stuffed with lamb and pine nuts.

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