I love the story of stone soup. I love it for all the wrong reasons. You know the story, right? The moral is that by sharing what one has, everyone eats well. But for me, I am like the greedy villagers, still amazed that soup can be made with a stone.
While not quite stone soup, you might think of this as "stone pasta". A dish of plain pasta it is made better with a bit of bacon, onion and a knob of brie. The resulting dish is kind of like Spaghetti Carbonara only faster and easier, and possibly even tastier. And I love Spaghetti Carbonara!
Brie has long been considered by many to be the most popular of all French cheeses. It comes from a province once called, "Brie" now called Seine-et-Marne which is not that far from Paris (and now more famous for being the site of a Disney Resort). Real brie is made from unpasteurized cow's milk but the version available in the US is made from pasteurized milk so the resulting cheese is milder and less ripe than true brie.
Cooking Techniques and Kitchen Gadgets
Cooking and Gadgets
Slow-Smoking Ribs in the Great Indoors
From the L.A. Times
The other day, I just couldn't shake the thought of slow-smoking some
ribs. I was in the mood for Memphis-style baby backs, the meat
fall-off-the-bone tender, a simple dry rub tantalizingly complicated
with deep hickory notes, the flavors drawn out with a tart
vinegar-Dijon mop.
There's a primal wonder to smoked food — that such depth of flavor can
come from so simple a technique. And then, of course, there's the lure
of the sunny afternoon spent in a lawn chair with a cold beer while
you're waiting, patiently, for the Weber to work its magic.
But then it started raining.
The audacity of winter. Even in Southern California, we have our
seasons. I took a good long look at my kettle grill through the kitchen
window as it rained, but those ribs wouldn't stop dancing through my
head, like a song that just wouldn't let go.
Save a Nickel, Save a Dime
For me, shopping isn't fun if I don't get a bargain. My grandmother
taught me well, "Never pay retail. If you want to be a good shopper,
you have to pay less than other people and still get as good." In our
neighborhood, Gelson's is the quality supermarket, carrying a full line of antibiotic-free, naturally raised meats. Which is great, except that they're pricey. The trick is to buy the meat when its been reduced, when a rib steak that was originally priced at $18.99/lb, is discounted to $7.99/lb. Any meat that's been reduced is still fresh, but it needs to be cooked that day
or frozen.
Yesterday I stopped by and it was like my birthday. There must have been a dozen packages of prime cuts of meat, all reduced. I couldn't possibly eat all that meat in one day. But no way
was I going to walk away from those bargains.
I bought half a dozen packages and prepped them for freezing. Years ago, after much experimentation, I learned a cool trick: if meat is marinated in olive oil seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, wrapped in plastic wrap, and sealed in a Ziploc freezer bag, it will stay fresh for months without any loss of flavor.
All About Egg Coddlers
Every once in a while I gain possession of some kitchen gadget or device that has fallen out of favor. Often despite my best intentions it just ends up on yet another shelf, unused, unloved. But aware of the risk, when my mother offered me her set of egg coddlers, I couldn't resist. They are so charming to look at that even if you swore off eggs you might want to put large blossoms in them for decorating a table or you could use them for serving jam or marmalade. They can also be used for heating up baby food.
Egg coddlers allow you to cook an egg to the consistency you like, and serve it up in a convenient and attractive manner. Personally I love the tecture of poached eggs, but there is no way to really get them dry enough once they emerge from their bath. I know Martha Stewart places them on the heels of bread and trims them just so, but they still seem drippy to me. I also like soft boiled eggs, but eating them out of the shell is a mess. I know they look cute in egg cups, but they really aren't that easy to crack the lids off and eat.
Orange Blossom Sugar
Sometimes it’s the tiny little things in life that bring the most joy.
I always get so excited when my trees start waking up from months of dormancy. Even though our orange tree (known forever as "Granny’s orange tree") never really loses its deep green leaves, it has its own way of letting you know that it’s kicking into high gear. Every year around this time buds begin to appear, and within a day or two these creamy, supple pods begin to open up into beautiful little flowers. And even if you were inclined to bury your head in the sand and ignore the seasonal shift, orange trees let you know their intentions by perfuming the entire yard with a heady, intoxicating fragrance of orange blossoms.
It’s literally the most soothing and luxurious smell I can think of and far from the tart, acidy flavor of the fruit (if I’m comparing smells and tastes, mind you). It’s much closer to honeysuckle than orange. And if the scent drives me crazy in the best of ways, I can only wonder what it does to bees!
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