Balsamico-glazed Pork Tenderloin with Chanterelles
Posted on 30 November 2007 under Main | No Comments
Monkey Bread Minis and Modesty
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Posted on 30 November 2007 under Main | No Comments
Lori’s Skillet Smashed Potatoes
Posted on 30 November 2007 under Main | No Comments
I recently spent a weekend in the backwoods of Mendocino County. Let me emphasize that when I say backwoods, I’m not kidding. We’re talking a few miles off the nearest paved road where a high-clearance 4×4 is a necessity, past numerous cleverly-rigged hydroponic hippie buses (this is clearly where old buses go to die), beyond a pack of car-chasing, fang-toothed guard dogs, and eventually down into the riverside sanctuary that is my friend Lori Narlock’s cabin. Before I get into the details of our weekend, I’ll just say (feeling more than a bit guilty), I hardly lifted a finger all weekend - Lori cooked for our cabin of six females, meal after delicious meal. Today I’m going to feature her skillet smashed potato recipe - first because they were delicious, and second to demonstrate how equal part thoughtfulness, experience, and prep work can culminate in delicious meals, even under rustic conditions.
How rustic you might ask? As I was packing that was exactly the question I kept asking myself as well. I had a few clues based on the flurry of pre-trip emails - including snippets of information like this:
“The cabin is very rustic. There are two bedrooms with one bed each and then two-single beds in the living room….There is no real electricity. We mostly read, play scrabble, drink copious amounts of beer and wine and gab by day and lantern.”
And then:
“Please bring clogs or other slip on shoes for using at night if you need to
get up and use the loo–there have been a few creepy crawlers show up every now and then.”
I later found out that creepy crawlers=scorpions. Lori’s sister Lisa also chimed in with the following:
“Let me please add that this is not a “Tahoe” cabin, and any slippers or such that you wear around the cabin may very well get filthy - so I would leave your favorite white slippers at home.”
So, if your imagination is prone to run amuck like mine does - I was preparing for a weekend in the rain, in a shack (moon through the slats in the roof, spiders through the gaps in the floorboard), huddled by a stove in a Theodore Kaczynski-style shelter. Something along the lines of an overgrown outhouse. This is what’s going through my mind, and I was completely up for it. I mean, there was no tent involved, so this was going to be an upgrade for me any way you look at it. You can imagine my surprise (and delight!) when I walked into this….
Dilled lamb fricassé
Posted on 30 November 2007 under Main | No Comments
Win a Free, Seriously Delicious Smoked Fish Platter from Russ & Daughters
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Starting today on Serious Eats we’re going to be giving away seriously delicious food every day until December 31st. What are the first delicious morsels we’re giving away? A package of New York Nostalgia from Russ & Daughters.
Rescuing Sunken Cupcakes
Posted on 29 November 2007 under Main | No Comments
Quickly piling flour, sugar, and spices into the mixing bowl, cranking up the oven, and doling out paper liners at the speed of light, I had no time to stop and think about what I was really doing- Baked goods were expected to appear at a party in just a few short hours! Deciding instantly upon the best sweet concoction, cupcake would take no time to slap together and everyone loves them. The only caveat: It’s a good idea to measure your ingredients. “Why, who on earth would go about willy-nilly and not measure their ingredients?! Don’t you know that could lead to some horrible cupcake tragedy?” Um…. that would be me.
Wet? Or Dry?
Posted on 29 November 2007 under Main | No Comments
When Is Food Too Expensive? What’s Your Bottom Line?
Posted on 28 November 2007 under Main | No Comments
More than $20 for an individual-sized pizza at Una Pizza Napoletana? $34.95 for fried calamari at Cipriani? $?? (I couldn’t even find the price) for linguine with clam sauce at Il Mulino? $250 for lunch at Per Se? $350 for dinner at Masa? We all have a little cash register-computer in our heads that is constantly ringing when it comes to food and drink. It silently rings when we are being fairly charged for food and drink and it loudly sounds the alarm when we feel we are being ripped off. But everybody’s food-and-drink cost alarm is calibrated differently. We all bring a different set of expectations when it comes to something like the cost of food. Let me tell you mine. Then you can tell me yours.
Posted on 28 November 2007 under Main | No Comments
