Technique
Tips & tricks
Crouton’s Fortress of Smoke™
A while back I added an equipment & technique section to this blog. This post is the first entry in that section, and describes my method for setting up and using a Weber Smoky Mountain cooker (aka Crouton’s Fortress of Smoke™). This post…
Oven Baked Beef Back Ribs
We had a couple of slabs of beef back ribs in the freezer and were looking for something to do with them. I saw this recipe online and thought it was worth a try, with a few modifications of my own.…
Photoblog: an Italian Family Dinner
Yesterday Ditalini and her Aunt Radicchio made three pounds of gnocchi and a big pot of sauce. When it comes to rolling and shaping gnocchi, there’s some twist of the wrist thing I never quite mastered, but Aunt Radicchio, now…
Slow Braised Short Ribs
This dish is from Hugo Ortega’s Backstreet Kitchen cookbook. I prepared it for a cooking club dinner the other night, and it was a hit. Although it may appear complicated, it’s actually easy to prepare (if you don’t count peeling…
deMenthe Thanksgiving 2013
We were all here for Thanksgiving: Crouton & Ditalini, our son Baguette, daughter-in-law Truffle, and grandson Pesce, along with our daughter Escargot and her boyfriend. Underfoot, of course, were Mortadella & Ubriaco, along with Baguette’s dog. Our poor old cat…
Separating Egg Yolks
Don’t worry about the language. You’ll get it. Is that cool or what?
Technique: Peeling Garlic
I saw this floating around the InterTubes a while back and thought, “bullpucky.” Tonight, I tried it. Holy moly … it works! And you know what? If it works for me, it’ll work for you!
Boeuf Bourguignon à la Julia Child
I finally tackled a long put-off project, the famous boeuf bourguignon (beef stew in red wine with bacon, onions, and mushrooms) from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This is a recipe you’ll need to study and understand…
Preserving Lemons
Preserved lemons have many uses, but we primarily use them to prepare two Moroccan recipes: Chicken Tajine (aka Rotten Chicken), and Chicken Tajine w/Harissa, Artichokes, & Grapes. Ingredients & Equipment 6-12 lemons sea salt or kosher salt 1 qt fruit…
Beer Can Chicken on the Barbie
Everybody has a barbecue beer can chicken recipe. How is mine different? It isn’t, but I’ll try to make up for that by discussing good techniques for cooking it. Ingredients whole fryer chicken seasoning half a can of beer Directions…