Chickpeas are a complicated bunch. The first time Caitlin and I cooked with chickpeas, we opened a can, drained them, and prepared a mixture to make falafel. It was a total disaster. The canned chickpeas disintegrated the minute they hit the frying oil. Fortunately, dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, worked like a charm.
With that lesson in mind, …
If you’ve seen my camera after I’ve been in the kitchen, you might think that it doubles as my sous chef. The shutter button is a little greasy and there’s flour dusted along the hand grip and on the aperture dial. There may even be a little sugar along the shoulder strap. Even the tripod may bear some semblance of kitchen work. Cinnamon or nutmeg may be sliding down its leg.
One of my favorite parts about creating my blog entries is assembling the collage, putting together the step-by-step tasks that create the final product. But to do so requires shuffling my floured hands back and forth, from the cutting board to the shutter, and then, possibly, to the white balance meter and the focus arrows.
Once the shot looks good, it’s back to the board, …
A savory alternative to cinnamon twists is cheese straws. The preparation and process is much the same, but instead of cinnamon and sugar, try gruyere, parmesan, …
Over the last few days, I’ve watched my bananas go from a bright yellow, worthy of wearing the leader’s jersey in the Tour de France, to a soft brown, like a tattered and mud-splashed elementary school bus.
Banana bread and banana muffins are always easy options for an overripe bunch. But banana bread is – let’s be honest – closer to cake than either bread or a trip to the bottom of the food pyramid. For that reason, I took my overripe bananas and turned them into real banana bread – not the quick kind. Indeed, if you know me, you know that I often enjoy taking the long and meandering route, passing through several culinary steps and preparation detours over what might have otherwise been a one-step, ten-minute trip, down the intercity highway (see curried couscous).
While this banana bread requires kneading and resting, rather than mixing and pouring, it is …
Two years ago, Caitlin and I designed the Grim Peeper, our submission for the Washington Post’s annual Peep Contest. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the time to collaborate on any recent peep project.
And yet, I still had a bag or two of those yellow marshmallows sitting around the kitchen, chirping to be used. Around Easter, I noticed a few food blogs featuring bird’s nests, combining chow mein noodles with some of the ubiquitous bagged candy.
Though I liked the concept, the idea of chow mein noodles and chocolate did not sound appealing….