Michael Ruhlman | Translating the Chef’s Craft for Every Kitchen

I have a friend, Cait, who is a Friendsgiving lover, and yearly invites 2 dozen millennials to her home for a Friendsgiving (pay attention for book giveaway at end of this post!). Is that a word? Not according to Miriam-Webster? But, NYTimes food editor, Sam Sifton, used it on the radio so I’m guessing it will be official soon. How did it begin? This McSweeney’s piece seems to call it right. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, our only holiday centered on food, a holiday without religious trappings, and one that brings all people together. Over food. Perhaps the greatest new facet of Thanksgiving is Friendsgiving, the bringing together of people who would normally be with their family in the midwest but are stuck in a city (as I was in 1985, eating a Turkey Dinner Read On »

Ever since I wrote Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, I’ve been a proselytizer for the kitchen scale. It makes measuring easier and cleaner and more accurate, especially when using flour, which can be off by 50% if you measure by volume. So it was a great day when the company that makes these scales asked me to create my perfect scale. That was easy. It would read out in ounces and grams. It could handle at least ten pounds or more for when I make a lot of sausage. It would have a little pop out scale for measuring small amounts or spices and salts to the tenth of a gram. It would have face that you could pull away from the scale when you’ve got a big sheet Read On »

When my wife Ann and I were in New Orleans in January, we felt the need, after a great Po Boys and beer at Parasol’s in the Garden District, for one more afternoon libation (as you do in NOLA). We stopped at bar someone recommended down the street. I believe I asked for a boulvardier. Bartender shook his head. I said, negroni. Bartender said, “We serve N drinks here.” “Excuse me?” “N drinks. Vodka ‘n,’ Gin ‘n,’ Scotch ‘n.’” That is, no fancy pants drinks. “We serve hahd likkah heah for men who want to get drunk fast.” #itsawonderfullife And those were the drinks I saw poured in 1960s-70s suburban Cleveland growing up. Gin n Tonic, Scotch n Soda. I knew four cocktails in my youth. The Martini (Dad), The Manhattan (Uncle Jon), The Bloody Mary Read On »

I put a pic on instagram of guacamole two weeks ago and got enough fervent responses about cilantro and garlic salt, lack of chili to realize that people really care about their guacamole. As we here in America, we who make enough of this creamy delicacy to fill a football stadium on Super Bowl Sunday, are engaged in a dish now nearly as national as Turkey on Thanksgiving, I thought I’d fire up the old blog again to pronounce my conviction: Guacamole = avocado + lime + shallot + salt. And that’s it. The lovely Elise Bauer goes even further, a simplifier after my own heart. Guacamole, she says, needn’t be anything more than avocado and salt. And when you know that, you also know how easy it is to make it a little better—a Read On »

[For those who want to skip the post: shop.ruhlman.com promo code JINGLE—I forgot how to hyperlink the image!] Perhaps the worst feeling in the kitchen is approaching a task for which you don’t have the proper tools. Being asked to slice something without a proper knife, or being asked to follow a cake recipe without adequate measuring devices. I was once tasked with making popcorn on the stovetop though none of the lids fit any of the pans appropriate for popcorn. I banged around in the kitchen in frustration, irritating everyone. This is why I love my kitchen tools. They perform. They are elegant. They enhance the experience of cooking. My flat edged wood spoons, for instance, are perfect for stirring anything in a pot. My offset spoons are lovely to behold and a pleasure Read On »

Friendsgiving? (And a Giveaway)

Introducing The Maestro Scale!

Bourbon Milk Punch
(and the Maestro Scale)

Guacamole