Adam D. Roberts's Blog, page 56

Mustmayostardayonnaise

A little fun for the end of the day courtesy of Mr. Show and this Splitsider post on the Best 24 Mr. Show Sketches In Order.

Diana’s Butter-Roasted Potatoes

Now we all know the concept of the student beating the master and I don’t want to imply that my friend Diana was ever my student or that I was ever her master (though I was her roommate, which is kind of the same thing with me); what I’d like to imply, however, is that Diana–who was a timid cook when I lived with her–is now giving me a run for my money. I remember her not wanting to make a salad in front of me, back then, because she thought I’d be judgmental. Since then, and since moving in with her husband, she’s had a chance to hone her chops and by all accounts her chops are very good. Case in point: check out her potatoes.

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Coffitivity

Are you in a coffee shop right now? I am. But if you’re not you can feel like you are with Coffitivity, a website that recreates the sounds of a coffee shop to boost your productivity. And the fact that I’m listening to it while in a coffee shop means I’m being doubly productive.

Eating Un-Neurotically

Here’s a smart piece by Josh Ozersky in praise of/defense of James Gandolfini’s (and, really, Tony Soprano’s) eating habits. As someone who’s always worrying about my meals, I’m particularly taken with the idea of “eating un-neurotically”: I’d like to give that a go some day, regardless of the consequences.

Got A Fat Tush? Make Fattoush

Sometimes recipes take you by surprise; you think they’re going to taste one way, they wind up tasting another way and you wind up liking that other way better.

With the fattoush recipe from Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem, I was expecting crispy pieces of pita bread tossed with pretty typical Israeli salad vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.), yogurt, olive oil and lemon juice. Instead, you use naan (or stale Turkish flatbread, if you can find that) and don’t toast it at all. You toss that with a yogurt mixture before making the salad and what happens next is so special, I’m not going to describe it in this paragraph. You’ll just have to click ahead (unless you came to this post directly, in which case this moment is…awkward.)

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The Case of the Cat and the Water Glass

In the middle of the night, a few weeks ago, I heard a noise that sounded like the sound you make when you’re licking your chops after eating a big piece of cake. Only the chop-licking wasn’t chop-licking, it was water-lapping and it was happening on my nightstand at 3:30 in the morning. Lolita, everyone’s favorite cat, has gotten into the habit of drinking out of our water glasses, so much so that now it’s almost an addiction. I have to sleep with my arm extended outwards to block her path. Sometimes she ignores the arm and still makes a lunge for the water; when I lift her away, she gives an angry “meow.” What’s got into my cat?

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Sneak Peek: Our New Kitchen

Hey, check out the kitchen above…I hope you like it because that’s our new kitchen! After a frantic search that lasted three weeks (ugh) my friend Nick e-mailed me a link to an apartment in Atwater Village on Wednesday morning. The funny thing about that is each morning I would wake up and the first thing I would type into Craigslist would be: “Atwater Village.” It’s absolutely my favorite neighborhood in L.A.: cozy, charming, scenic and home to both Proof Bakery and Canele, two of my favorite places here. Nothing worthwhile turned up and the few that did turn up I would make myself go see, only to be disappointed because the places–while well-situated–were really dirty/dusty/musky inside. Craig wasn’t having that.

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Reader Mail: How To Entertain?

Here’s a question from a reader that I thought might be best answered on the blog. (Note: I edited the letter for brevity’s sake.)

Dear Adam,

I’ve been reading your blog now for six or seven years, though I’ve never commented. I really enjoy your humor and down to earth advice about cooking. I started reading your blog when I was in grad school and loved it as an escape from reading research articles.

One thing I’ve always loved about your blog is when you write about entertaining your friends at your home. You seem like such a natural, warm and welcoming host. Your dinner parties look like the kind I always hope to be invited to or put on myself. Plus, the food always looks delicious.

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No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a week of recipes where the finished dish doesn’t look good, but tastes really good, so I lead with a picture of something else. Yesterday it was Kachin Chicken Curry with a picture of a mortar and pestle, today it’s No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies from Baked Explorations with an image of peanut butter in a measuring cup. You’ll understand why when we get to the end.

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Kachin Chicken Curry

Confession: if I lead a post with an image that isn’t the finished dish, that’s because the finished dish isn’t very pretty. Which doesn’t mean it isn’t very good. In this case, the dish comes from a book that’s been sitting on my shelf for a long time, a book that my publisher published around the same time my book came out: Burma by Naomi Duguid. As much as I felt like I went on an adventure with my book, this book is The Amazing Race to my Double Dare. What’s so remarkable about Duguid’s work here is how immersive it is: the book isn’t just a cluster of recipes, it’s a beautifully assembled collection of stories, pictures and anecdotes about life in Burma.

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