This dish is about ramps. Ramps grow wild in higher elevations in the North American Appalachian mountains. If you are unfamiliar with them, it is somewhat hard to describe them. They are sometimes referred to as wild leeks. But that does not do them justice. There is a strong garlic taste too. While difficult...
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Steaming fish en papillote (paper envelopes) is an incredibly simple technique that produces intense flavors and has a wow factor for presentation. All with little effort. Use it when you want to steam fish with flavors or side vegetables that you want to meld together. Cooking with the intense flavor of ramps is an...
Continue readingThis recipe calls for a pound of flour and adds some flour. Just barely enough for three 9.5 inch (25 cm) tarts. Somewhat impractical for the home baker, but is listed for completeness. Instructions are given for kneading by hand. That is something one should try at least once to get a real feel...
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No critic goes to the theater to write about the foil. Perhaps that is why there are so many involved recipes for vegetable stocks that require the purchase of a supply of vegetables large enough to feed a family for a couple of days, only to be roasted, boiled, and thrown away. When certainly...
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There is definitely an art to roasting vegetables. The idea is to caramelize the sugars, intensifying the flavors. Understanding the texture is a large part of doing it right. This topic will be featured in a later more extensive posting, but for now, enjoy these carrots. We will leave it with this: the crisper...
Continue readingThe sugar most easily available to the home cook is sucrose — table sugar. Sucrose has high molecular weight and when used in products like gelato that is not as soft. A solution is simple syrup or inverted sugar syrup. If we boil sucrose in water, we produce glucose and fructose. Glucose is frequently...
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In Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat, she introduces Aaron’s Tart Dough, from her friend Aaron Hyman. In this recipe, he swaps out some of the butter for crème Fraiche or plain cream. The result is touted as an all-purpose tart dough that may be made and...
Continue readingThis recipe calls for a pound of flour and adds some flour. Just barely enough for three 9.5 inch (25 cm) tarts. Somewhat impractical for the home baker, but is listed for completeness. Instructions are given for kneading by hand. That is something one should try at least once to get a real feel...
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In her beautifully produced book, Around My French Table, Dorie Greenspan presents recipes easy to incorporate into home life. One recipe particularly has been useful to adapt to whatever is in the market. Her version is a mustard tart recipe for carrots and leeks. With eggs and creme fraiche it can be used as...
Continue readingEgg sizes are not as simple as recipes may indicate. The below gives some reference points. Of note, in the United States, the USDA guidelines give minimum weights. Therefore, average weights are often used and are provided here. In the UK, a range is given. The average sizes for Canada and the USA are...
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