The Amateur Gourmet

Here's our latest video from Food2, featuring beloved Italian chef Cesare Casella (of Salumeria Rosi). Chef Casella (who's also the dean of Italian studies at the French Culinary Institute) teaches us a technique so effective, I'll never make risotto any other way again: For those of you who can't watch the video, here's the recipe (after the jump)...... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Inspiration strikes at the strangest moments. Like Newton under the apple tree, you might be daydreaming about "The Golden Girls" episode where Dorothy's friend has a lesbian crush on Rose and BOOM--you've invented gravity! Such was the case for me, last week, while grading student work in my Gotham Food Writing class: I had the sudden, inexplicable urge to stick a banana in a hot dog bun, schmear it with peanut butter, drizzle on honey and call it "The Elvis Dog." This was a great moment in human history.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

A lot of people want to know: "Does Craig ever cook for you?" Normally the answer is "no, never, he just likes eating," but last week the answer became: "Yes, but only when I slice my finger."... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Last weekend, I decided to make a very ambitious breakfast of poached eggs on roasted potatoes with Hollandaise sauce. It took a whole carton of eggs (three for the Hollandaise, four for poaching and the rest for throwing away after the yolks bled into the whites) but the resulting dish, as you can see, was pretty dazzling. It's the kind of breakfast that makes you, the chef, feel proud and triumphant, roaring with the might of a culinary lion. "I made that!" you keep saying to yourself, reluctant to disturb the plate with a fork. "I really made that." "Yes," says your companion, digging in. "I'm a culinary lion!" you continue. "Rawwwwwwwwr!!"... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

This morning I tweaked a recipe and I wasn't even cooking. I was reading Twitter (as I do every morning after reading The New York Times, Google Reader, and checking Facebook) and I saw my friend Elise Tweet about her beet hummus. I clicked to the recipe (see here) and then I Tweeted to her: "Have you considered adding horseradish to your beet hummus? I wonder if that'd work?" She Tweeted back: "love the idea of adding horseradish to the beet hummus. yummmmmmm." That's what's known as a Tweet tweak and it's just one example of the many tweaks I've been tweaking, lately, in my newfound life as a recipe tweaker.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

April Bloomfield--the chef of The Spotted Pig, the late John Dory and now The Breslin--cooks bold food. That's what everyone loves about her; her food is never, ever boring. It's the metaphysical opposite of the boiled peas and carrots you remember from your middle school cafeteria. Her peas and carrots, if she ran a middle school cafeteria, would be browned and salted and spiced and acidified. Kids would be so energized by them they'd stop beating each other up, earn straight As and all go on to win Noble Peace Prizes. That's the power of food cooked by April Bloomfield.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

My mom loves Regis Philbin. Growing up, she'd watch Regis & Kathie Lee religiously; she even once went to a shopping mall, somewhere on Long Island, to get Kathie Lee Gifford to sign a copy of her book. These days, she and my dad Tivo Regis and Kelly in the morning and watch it at night. I'm a View man myself (though Whoopie is no Rosie; I miss the compulsively watchable hysteria of Rosie vs. Elizabeth) but once I went to a taping of Regis & Kathie Lee, almost ten years ago, because my friend Dana was Harrison Ford obsessed and he was the featured guest. Why am I telling you all this? Because if you'd asked me last week, "Who are the last two people you'd expect to have the key to unlock the mysteries of one of New York's greatest cookies" I would not have said "Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa." And yet, thanks to this post on Eater New York, it became evident last week that if I wanted to make Momofuku Milk Bar's compost cookies at home, the recipe was right there on Regis & Kelly's webpage.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Inspired by this piece in the Guardian, in which several successful fiction writers (including Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, and Jonathan Franzen) give their ten rules for writing fiction, here are my ten rules for food blogging. (I hope my other senior food blogging colleagues write their own ten rules too.) 1. Have a hook. That hook might be cooking your way through a cookbook, deriding disastrous cakes, or advising fellow workers on where to eat in midtown. 2. If you don't have a hook, have a name. Like this guy or this guy, both of whom made a name for themselves in the food world before starting a food blog. 3. If you don't have a name, have a singular, stand-out voice that’s unlike any other voice out there. 4. If you don’t have a singular, stand-out voice, take beautiful pictures of beautiful food and include recipes. 5. Update frequently, at least three times a week. Even if you’re not a great photographer, include pictures in your posts; preferably, a lead picture at the top and several illustrative pictures studded throughout. (Edit these pictures in Photoshop, for maximum effect.)... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

I don't have a fast answer to the question "what's your favorite restaurant?" (it's a tie, at this point, between Blue Hill Stone Barns & Prune) but I do have an immediate suggestion when someone is coming to New York for the first time and wants to know where to go: "Cafe Sabarasky," I almost always say. "It's one of my favorite places in the city."... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

The idea of a secret ingredient is a funny one. I think it's based on a modern American notion of shortcuts; the idea that instead of working hard to be successful, you can win the lottery or appear on a reality show or read the Cliff's Notes and still pass your A.P. English exam (I did that actually: sorry, Hester Prynne). This American obsession with getting everywhere as quickly as possible, to FastPass your way to accomplishment, doesn't translate well to cooking. Which is why, I think, so many Americans don't cook. They'd rather fast food it, or frozen dinner it, than stand over a stove. And when they do stand over the stove, they want "quick tips" and "30 minute meals" and the magical, secret ingredient that'll propel their dinner to greatness. But the truth is no one ingredient can propel your dinner to greatness; greatness comes with patience and practice, over time.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Let's say you have a loved one who doesn't cook (ahem) and Valentine's Day is just around the corner (ahem) and you're sick and tired of slaving over a hot stove, day in and day out, and wish that just once (ahem) they'd make you dessert. Ok, my "ahems" are a bit unfair: that made it sound like I'm complaining about my own domestic situation. I'm not. I don't want Craig to make me dessert--I like making my own dessert, thank you very much--but you, yes YOU, may wish your loved one to make you dessert this Valentine's Day. It's very understandable. Well here's the solution: open up this post on their computer, leave it open, and maybe they'll get the hint. This is a pretty foolproof beginner cook dessert option and it's out-of-this-world good.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Last week I tried an experiment based on something I saw my friend Jeffery Self do a few days prior: I hosted a LIVE video Q&A on a site called ustream.tv. I called the show "Dinner Dish," announced it 5 minutes before I did it on Twitter, and about 14 people came (including my mom) and asked me questions about food and cooking in the chat room. I promised the next time I did it I'd give more warning so here it is: this afternoon, at 5 PM EST, click here and ask me anything you want to know about cooking, eating, dining, spelunking, you name it. Today's episode will be a special snowstorm edition.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Craig's birthday has always been an excellent excuse to splurge at a high-end restaurant, the kind of place I couldn't justify going to the rest of the year. Usually I pick a place that piques my curiosity, or a place I've been dying to try for a long time. Last year we visited Momofuku Ko, the year before--and it was quite a year--Per Se and, the year before that, Blue Hill. This year, it finally occurred to me: all this time, I'd been choosing places I really wanted to go to without really factoring Craig into the equation. Sure, he loves food and loved all these meals, but would he have picked these places himself? Probably not (reading over my shoulder, he says: "I would've picked Blue Hill.") Regardless, there's one kind of food that Craig absolutely loves and that I just enjoy which, if this birthday was going to be about him, I would have to pursue: that food is sushi.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

My proudest culinary achievements aren't the ones where I followed a recipe really well or repeated a specific technique demonstrated by a chef, they're the ones where on a freezing cold night, instead of ordering a pizza or Thai food (side-note: we still haven't found good take-out in the West Village; anyone?) I whip up something delicious with what I have on hand.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

I care about you, readers, and I don't want you to go through this weekend without cookies. Everyone deserves cookies, especially on the weekend. The cookies I'm going to tell you about may already be familiar to you. The first, Lucy's Salty Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, were cookies I told you about in December. Remember I went to a cookie party? And how I was assigned Pfeffernussen? And how my Pfeffernussen were a bit tough and unwieldy, but how the best cookies at the party--salty chocolate peanut butter cookies--were so good I tracked down the recipe for you? Well now I've made those cookies myself and they are still mind-bogglingly good.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Every so often, when our lovely and talented banner illustrator Lindy Groening designs a new monthly banner, she asks me to send her some pictures of myself in various poses to fit into the banner scheme. Imagine my shock when, last week, she asked me to send her NAKED pictures of myself for this month's banner! I was both outraged and tickled; me? Naked? On my banner? Well, there it is folks. I think she did a lovely job; thanks to her and thanks, of course, to Justin for giving this cupid wings. [P.S. Lindy never asked for naked pictures, in case you didn't know I was joking. But Lindy, if you want them, I've got them!]... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

It's hard to get excited about meatloaf. That is, unless you're standing in the kitchen at Craft in New York and Chef Damon Wise (Tom Colicchio's right-hand man) is mixing together ground beef, pork, crisp shitakes (that taste like bacon), golden soffrito, soy sauce, fresh oregano and Parmesan cheese. The resulting meatloaf--which Chef Wise called "Umami Meatloaf"--was, without question, the best I've ever had. And then, as you'll see in the following Food2 video, I went and recreated it at home. All the proportions and ingredients and steps are listed in the video, but, just in case, I'll share them after the jump. And now, without further pause, here's one killer meatloaf:... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Maybe I'm crass, but when I think bladder, I think pee. When the bladder comes up in conversation, it's usually in the context of "my bladder is going to explode, please pull over" or "ouch, don't sit on my bladder, I just drank a liter of Coke." It's rarely: "Mmm, you know what would be delicious? Puffing up the bladder of a pig and cooking a chicken in it!" If someone said that to you, you might stare at them, mouth agape, wondering how quickly you might get to the nearest exit. Yet, at some point before I arrived at the NYT 4-star Michelin 3-star restaurant Daniel on the Upper East Side, the visiting chef--another Michelin 3-star chef, Chef Eric Frechon from The Bristol in Paris--made that very statement. And no one recoiled in horror; in fact, they helped him do it.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Hear those distant drums? A great battle is about to begin: the Great Soup Battle of 2010. As readers may remember, last week I announced a big contest on my blog. Submit your favorite soup recipe--it didn't have to be original, just a soup recipe that you love--and the best one would win a $450 VitaMix blender. Then 325 of you, that's right 325 of you, submitted recipes. And little old me had to wade through them to pick the best. It was hard work, not for the faint of heart, but I wound up choosing the three most intriguing; recipes that, for whatever reason, grabbed my attention and made me hungry to try them. Then I invited my friends Diana Fithian (an enthusiastic home cook) and Leland Scruby (who works at the French Culinary Institute) over to help me make them. The three of us, plus Craig, would sample these soups and carefully choose the winner.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Brothers and sisters, I have seen the light! All these years, these years of reading Calvin Trillin (the poet laureate of dumplings) and fake nodding as my Manhattanite friends (ones who grew up here) debated dumpling dives, I faked an interest that didn't really exist. You see, I didn't really get the big deal. What's so great about dumplings? Aren't they just glorified ravioli, greasy gut-bombs that you dip in soy sauce and that make you feel gross and un-full and desperate for a salad? This, of course, is sacrilege in the food world but my confession here is a precursor for an absolute conversion that came about because of a little web show called Working Class Foodies.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/