bloviatrix

The biggest change for me took place 6 years ago when I left corporate America. All of sudden I had time to cook -- I was no longer coming home at 8pm each night and dependent on my husband getting food on the table. Right away the first thing that started to improve were my knife skills. Although they're still not perfect, I can work my way through several pounds of vegetables in a timely manner. Like others, the amount of processed food that comes into the house has dropped. We frequently joke that there's nothing to eat because everything we buy are staples to be turned into something else as opposed to just open the bag and snack. My devotion to supporting local farmers and eating seasonally has grown significantly. And while I was alway discerning about ingredients, I've only gotten more so. Finally, there are the cooking basics that others refer to. I keep several types of stock on hand which I use for both soup and dishes. I'm more liberal in my use of salt and pepper. And as my technique has improved I'm less dependent on recipes.

I've been knocked out with a case of the flu all week so shabbos prep fell on my darling Blovie's shoulders . He had already made a huge pot of chicken soup but augmented it with some spicy black bean chowder from the freezer. He also roasted a chicken with lemon and garlic and made kasha varnishkes and asparagus. For lunch he made a pot of chili. And as a treat, he made hot cider. Of course, I couldn't taste a bloody thing, but it was lovely.

Blovie suprised me with a copy of Suvir's Indian Home Cooking and a copy of Dessert University, which I already own. Isn't he a sweetie?

I use them in ice cream. Take a look at Alice Medrich's book Bittersweet. She has some savory recipes that incorporate the nibs including a mushroom dish.

Crain's reports that Sur La Table will be opening their first Manhattan store in July at 75 Spring Street. The chain has one other NY outpost in Manhasset.

Items have to be cooked just 1/3 of the way through before shabbos begins.

Aidan, you can get away without soaking the beans if you wait to add the tomatoes until after the beans get tender. The acid in the tomatoes prohibits the beans from softening (check out the bean thread for a discussion about this or look in McGee).

Pam, what publication are you writing your articles for?

If you're having problems with the texture of the sweet potato, what about combining it with butternut squash? That might help.

I recently experimented with cauliflower kugel. I boiled two heads of cauliflower and put them through a food mill. Then added caramelized onions, nutmeg, eggs, s & p and a bit of flour. It had a great deal of flavor and my guinea pigs, I mean guests , liked it. Use matzoh meal in place of the flour and it's good to go for pesach.

I'm in for this one. I found kosher andouille at Zabar's the other week. It's sitting in the freezer waiting to be used.

After the holidays I reported that the copy of Bouchon I received was only a stand-in until TFL arrived. Well, Blovie got me a new copy of Bouchon. It showed up yesterday. As I stated back then, I knew I would get it eventually.

Yesterday was a passion fruit truffle. haven't eaten anything yet today.

I had last weekend off since we were in S. Florida for a bar mitzvah. Things have been very hectic since we got home so I'm going to be lazy this shabbos. I went shopping in my freezer for mushroom-barley soup. Plus I pulled out soy-ginger marinade in which I'll poach a chicken. I'm going to roast some cauliflower and do something with bulgur. We're going to friends for lunch.

Corned Beef Sandwich on rye with good deli mustard. With a Dr. Brown's Cream soda, of course.

The new Chodorow-Todd English project has a pretty awful name. I'm replicating the sign below: ENGLISH ITALIAN (I've already walked by it about 7 times this week)

It's been awhile since I made the tea cakes but if I remember correctly, the real purpose of the apricot is to add moistness. The almond is the dominant flavor. My suggestion would be to leave the batter alone but replace the apricot sliver with a piece of dried apricot that had been re-hydrated. That might give you more apricot flavor.

I've been re-visiting John Ash's From Earth to Table the past few weeks. Everything I've made has been a hit.

I visited Kee's today. She and an assistant were in the midst of making truffles for an order when I arrived. The assistant had to stop, remove her gloves and wash her hands before tending to me. I picked up 6 different pieces. Thus far I've only tried the black sesame truffle, which I loved. Dark chocolate and sesame isn't a combination I'm familiar with, but I loved the smoothness of the ganache with the texture of the sesame. The packaging was a small box and tied with a raffia ribbon. It looked like a something jewelry would come in.

I'm heading down to Miami at the end of the week and I'm wondering -- can I get locally grown Meyer lemons down there? I know they grown in California but what about Florida? Any idea about price?

Blovie describes my flourless chocolate cake as eating a stick of chocolate butter. YMMV.

When your spouse, who doesn't really care knows who Ferran Adria is.

Cameltoe Oasis

A black sesame truffle.

My "go to" flourless chocolate cake is from Nick Malgieri. I make it with such frequency I can recite it by heart: 1/2 c sugar 1/3 c water 8 ounces butter 12 ounces chocolate (I like 62%) 4 large eggs 2 tablespoons liqueur or vanilla extract. Make sugar syrup, add chopped chocolate and butter and let melt. Whisk eggs and add liqueur. Add chocolate mixture. Pour into 9 inch round cake pan greased and lined with parchment. Place in 300 oven in a bain marie for about 45 minutes.