Roasted Turkey legs and wings for stock and gravyPhoto by Donna Turner Ruhlman
A year ago, I drove a couple hours south of Cleveland to a strip mall off Interstate 71 to film part of an episode of Bourdain's "No Reservations" heartland episode, at a stellar Japanese restaurant called Kihachi (google map it, look at all the parking lots and new housing developments). During the meal Bourdain, I made an off-handed remark about how extraordinary to find a restaurant of this caliber in the heart of Applebee's country. That was it, that was all! And it's still how I still see it, namely that strip malls off interstates, miles from any actual metropolis, is, indeed, Applebee's country.
Regrettably, this episode of the show featured Columbus, Ohio, the state capital, home of OSU and the Buckeyes, and the good people of this heartland city, eager for the national spotlight to show themselves ...
Alton Brown’s voice was hoarse from three performances at Cleveland’s Fabulous Food Show Saturday and from shouting in conversation to fans in the noisy I-X center. But the white Burgundy and clams with foie gras at Greenhouse Tavern that night were going a long way in soothing the chords and the soul. “I always say, cooking isn’t hard,” he said. “Being organized is what’s hard.” I’d been planning to write on this very subject and was glad the conversation had turned this way over dinner. “Cooking is easy, cooking is relaxing,” he went on. “It’s the not-being-organized that’s so stressful for people.” If only more people would realize this! And then act on it! This first struck me when my friend Russ Parsons disagreed that it was easy to roast a chicken during the week, partly because he seemed to make going to the store to buy the chicken on the ...
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