Pre-Order the Serious Eats Book

Tote bags! Autographed bookplates! Paw prints!
October 28, 2011 AT 1:27PM | BY Nick Kindelsperger

Pardon the shameless shill for a moment, but we're both pretty excited about this. As most of you probably know, Blake and I have been writing the Dinner Tonight column over at Serious Eats for well over four years. That's a lot of weeknight dinners. But our history with the site actually goes back to the very beginning.  (Here is one very old article that we both wrote if you need some proof.) This is all just a way of saying that we're both excited to see that Serious Eats will release its first official book next week called, aptly enough, Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are.

It features a collection of recipes, food profiles, and restaurant recommendations from around the country. In fact, I was lucky enough to ride around with the crew while they were narrowing down the Chicago picks. (Here's some photographic proof of that one, too.)

It will undoubtedly be available at your local bookstore soon, but if you pre-order it on Amazon before October 31st, you can also get a free tote bag and an autographed bookplate. Click here for all the details. 

Repertoire | The Dinner Party
Rules for success, including porchetta
October 25, 2011 AT 9:15AM | BY Blake Royer

 

Ed. note: This is the third post in a "Repertoire" series on the interplay of food and style, with our friends The Midwestyle. We're helping their readers learn a few recipes, and they're teaching us a few things about doing it in style.

To say you’re an accomplished person is putting it lightly. That time you summited Kilimanjaro during a snow storm. The month you took a vow of silence. The day all the stoplights turned green.

You’ve been places, you’ve seen things, and you’ve got most situations in the bag. But the thought of hosting a dinner party? Crippling. Like trying to throw a punch under water. There are Nobel Prize winners who would buckle at the thought of preparing a meal for friends and having to sit there and face them while they eat it.

Having hosted more than few gatherings, we've learned a few things.  Call them rules, or guidelines.  We think they might be a helpful starting point.  

And if nothing else, learn to cook porchetta. You won't regret it.

Weekend Project: Freeze Chicken Stock in Ice Cube Trays
The Paupered Chef officially endorses the convenient practice.
October 19, 2011 AT 10:35AM | BY Nick Kindelsperger

 

I, Nick Kindelsperger, wholeheartedly endorse the practice of freezing chicken stock in ice cube trays. Doing so allows one to crack them into zip-lock bags and stash them in the freezer for safe keeping. It is convenient, fairly easy to do, and downright practical (in a slightly embarrassing way). Of course, the problem with dishing out little kitchen tips and tricks like this one is that there are enough of them to make even the most organized person confused. I'm as guilty as anyone. So, I decided to wait on this one just to make sure that I actually followed through, used it all, and then did it again. It passed the test.

I've long been freezing stock. I learned early on that freezing the whole batch in one bag was the wrong way to go, because it is hard to dethaw a huge hunk of ice. So, I started freezing stock in four-cup batches, thinking that would be a normal amount to use for a recipe. That is almost never the case. Nine times out of ten, recipes call for ½ cup or less, meaning I had to partially dethaw the bags, pour off the amount I need, and then refreeze them. The process was annoying and, at least whenever I tried to do it, messy.

For the Love of Un-Simple Things: Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Just a little love for laborious cooking projects.
October 17, 2011 AT 4:09PM | BY Nick Kindelsperger

 

The older I get, the more I appreciate the un-simple things. Sure, I admire the shining brilliance of singularly perfect foods — like the best summer tomatoes or a properly aged steak — but I'm far more interested in dishes that combine dozens of components into a complex and bewildering whole. I speak of Mexican moles, feisty Thai salads, balanced Indian curries, and, of course, a certain Creole dish I've been in love with for a while now: gumbo.

Gumbo is a passion of mine, even if I only seem to get around to it once a year or so. Part of the problem is that I live too far away from the source for it to worth ordering at restaurants (as I once learned the hard way). But the main issue is that gumbo is an all day cooking process that absolutely can't be rushed. It is not easy or, if we could return quickly to the main thesis here, simple. Fortunately, there is much to love. 

Repertoire | The Working Lunch
An Argument for Grains and Vegetables
October 13, 2011 AT 9:18AM | BY Blake Royer

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I’ve worked enough days in my life, from my desk at home to mind-numbing office temp gigs, to have developed some theories on lunch. To me, the working lunch is a series of balances: it should be fast, yet not fast-food; it should be a break from work, but not so indulgent you can’t get moving again; it should be fulfilling, but not a cause of sluggishness. Lunch should work for you, but so often it’s the other way around.

Here's the idea: Work ahead, do a little bit of planning, and go vegetarian. And above all keep in mind: Healthy doesn’t have to mean it tastes like cardboard.

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