Adam D. Roberts's Blog, page 93

The Best Curry of Your Life

Go ahead and imagine the most flavorful bite of food you can. What makes it so flavorful? Is it the amount of salt? The amount of heat? The amount of fat? The amount of acidity?

All of these factors come into play in this recipe for lamb curry from April Bloomfield’s A Girl and Her Pig. It’s undoubtedly the best curry I’ve ever had in my life; but it may also be the single most flavorful bite of food I can remember eating in a long, long time.

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The Winners of the 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt (Sponsored By The CIA)

Look at how much fun everyone had!

I have to confess, when I typed up the Scavenger Hunt list last week, I was worried that (a) maybe no one would compete (this was my first year not centering it around a specific city; so the challenges were broader); and (b) that those who DID compete might hate this list and grow to hate me because of how much work was required. But based on the pictures, that’s clearly not the case. I mean, check out these smiling Scavenger Hunters!

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The 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt (Sponsored By The Culinary Institute of America) Starts Now

On your marks…get set….

Ok, wait! Before you get started scavenger hunting, I need to tell you a few things about the 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt. First: choose your partner wisely. Not only will you be spending all weekend with them; if you win, you’ll be cooking together for four days at the CIA. This is not a time to collaborate with a frienemy! Second: please read the rules carefully. I’d hate for you to spend all weekend scavenger hunting only to find that because you ignored a potentially crucial rule you’re disqualified. Then I’d be your frienemy and it’ll be so awkward if we run into each other out at dinner. Ok?

So let’s talk about the rules.

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English Porridge

As someone who’s starred in “Oliver” twice–as Oliver in 5th grade and Fagan in 7th grade–I know a thing or two about porridge (aka: “gruel”). Rule one: don’t ask for “more” or you’ll be dragged by your ear out into the snow and sold to a mortician. Rule two: it’s best not served from a giant vat in the middle of a workhouse; it tastes much better–in fact it tastes quite terrific–if you follow the following instructions from April Bloomfield’s glorious new cookbook, A Girl and Her Pig.

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Two Things

1. Check out the new banner by Lindy Groening. If you have bee allergies, my apologies; there’s an epinephrine autoinjector for you on the bottom right of the page. (Hey: I’ve seen “My Girl.”)

2. Tomorrow begins the 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt (with over $3500 in prizes from the CIA). I’m posting the list at 5 PM E.S.T. and you have until Sunday at midnight to complete it. In the meantime, if you’re on Twitter, check out the hashtag #foodiephotohunt. That’ll be important during the hunt for an opportunity to score some bonus points by finding other teams in your area. And if you have any questions, ask them with that hashtag and I’ll be sure to answer them. Now e-mail your friends and find a partner, quick!

The Pancake at Canelé

We need to talk about the pancake at Canelé in Atwater Village.

I mean, look at it: it’s totally outrageous. It’s puffed up like a blowfish and it’s filled, almost defiantly, with a Meyer lemon custard. Dusted with powdered sugar and served with a lemon wedge, this pancake puts all other pancakes to shame. Is it a Dutch Baby? A riff on the David Eyre’s pancake? Possibly.

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One Bag of Lentils, Two Dinners

There are two kinds of people who cook at home: the first kind chooses an elaborate recipe, buys all of the ingredients, spends hours cooking it, invites friends to eat it, spends hours cleaning it, and takes the rest of the week off. The other kind has long-range vision, makes a large batch of something and uses that batch to feed his or her family for the rest of the week. This kind of home cook–the true home cook–is resourceful, inventive, and frugal without letting that frugality show. And, lately, I’m proud to say, I’m shifting from Column A to Column B. Let me prove it to you with a bag of lentils.

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Fresh Springtime Pasta with Farmer’s Market Asparagus and Fava Beans

After hauling home fresh asparagus and fava beans from the farmer’s market, I stood on a chair and made a loud declaration: “I will not adulterate these beacons of springtime with a convoluted recipe that obfuscates their natural glory!” Getting down from the chair, I thought about my declaration and realized that to live up to my word, I would need to cook the asparagus and fava beans as simply as possible, and serve them up with something special-enough to be memorable but not so special as to shadow the star ingredients: which is how I came up with making fresh pasta.

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Announcing The 2012 Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt! (Now World-Wide; with over $3500 in prizes from The Culinary Institute of America)

Readers, are you ready for something outrageous? Something unbelievable? Something so over-the-top that you might pinch yourself and wonder if it’s April 1st?

Well have I got news for you! The Culinary Institute of America—the world’s premier culinary college—has agreed to sponsor my first-ever WORLD WIDE Foodie Photo Scavenger Hunt. They’re offering up to the 1st place winning team a FOUR DAY Culinary Boot Camp worth over $3500 (not to mention books and DVDs for the 2nd and 3rd place winners).

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Ways To Follow

Some of you may not realize that, during the day, I’m not just updating my blog. Oh no! I’m also updating my Twitter feed @amateurgourmet with things like this fun gay pirate music video and pictures of what I had for breakfast (a pink orange); then there’s my Facebook Page which has a brand new banner designed by Lindy Groening—click here to check it out and LIKE it to get regular updates of all the interesting things I’m linking to, like this article about shrimp worker abuse and this video of Mario Batali’s home kitchen. Not to overwhelm you, but there’s also my newsletter–subscribe here–that goes out every Monday with all kinds of original content (click here to read the last one). And of course my Pinterest page with all of my recipes laid out quite nicely. Geesh: I sure keep myself busy online! Don’t miss out.