Monthly Archives: December 2010

Happy New Year and Best Wishes To All!

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 31, 2010

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I am for recognizing good fortune when it comes my way. In a career blessed with good luck, high on the list are the people I'm able to work with. The above card lifted my spirits when I received it. It was created by Joleen Hughes, who, with her husband David, run a design firm called Level in the Napa Valley. David is the one responsible for the playful nature of the book Ad Hoc, and so much more. It is a pleasure to work with these two people who rarely get enough recognition. I'm grateful to you, David and Joleen! Joleen designed the card for Thomas Keller, another person I'm incredibly lucky to work with, along with every single member of his team I encounter. Brian Polcyn, ...

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Posted in Holiday | Tagged best wishes to all, happy new year | Comments closed

Hoppin’ John—Recipe for New Year’s Day

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 29, 2010

Hoppin' John Recipe for New Year's Day/Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman

This Hoppin' John recipe is a dish from the American south featuring black-eyed peas, often included in southern food and soul food recipes, traditionally served on New Year's Day by those angling for good fortune all year long. I make Hoppin' John every year for this very reason (also, it's inexpensive, easy, nutritious and satisfying). There are all kinds of variants (here's the wikipedia description of Hoppin John), but they all share three features that I think must be a part of the dish or it's not Hoppin John: black-eyed peas, smokey bacon, and some kind of heat. I always include onion and I also always include tomato, which is not traditional but I think it gives great acidity and flavor to this bean ...

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Posted in Recipes, sidedishes | Tagged how to make hoppin john, recipe for hoppin john, uses for black eyed peas | Comments closed

Favorite Tools Giveaway

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 28, 2010

As some readers know, I and my buddy Mac have begun to manufacture new cooking tools that we love, and we're already getting great feedback. We love The Spanker, above (photo by Donna, thanks hon!)—the big paddle for stirring big pots. There's simply nothing out there like it that we could find. I'll be using it to stir a double batch of Hoppin' John for a New Year's Day fete. But my mom said it was too big for her—she never cooked in batches that would require this bad boy. Another reader said the same, but added that she loved the paddles she'd received so much that she'd have been happy to pay the same amount for two small paddles. This is exactly the kind of feedback we need, and because we've produced our tools in ...

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Posted in Giveaway, ruhlman products, Shopping, Sponsored, Tools | Tagged all-strain kitchen cloths, easy clean knife grabber, Kitchen Tools, Michael Ruhlman kitchen tool line, Michael Ruhlman product line, Opensky, ruhlman product giveaway, wood paddles | Comments closed

French Food Thieves

By emilia | Published: December 27, 2010

Seasonal high end specialties are under attack in France. A recent murder, growing thefts, and disease threaten oysters and truffles, via Independent UK.

Posted in Article, Business, Food Politics | Tagged french oysters, french truffles, independent UK, murder of a poacher, theft of regional specialties | Comments closed

Video: Craft vs Art

By emilia | Published: December 27, 2010

Excerpts from the 2010 Star Chefs Conference discussion on if cooking is an art or a craft. Featuring Michael and many more, via StarChefs.

Posted in Food Politics, Video | Tagged is cooking an art or craft, star chefs, thomas keller | Comments closed

Bread Objections

By emilia | Published: December 27, 2010

Questioning its role in our society. Scroll down and read 7 interesting objections on bread from Carlos Monteiro, via WPHNA.org.

Posted in Article, Bread, Food Politics | Tagged Carlos Monteiro, should we we eat bread, Why bread is ultra-processed, world public health nutrition association | Comments closed

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to all!

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 24, 2010

Photo by Donna, kitchen Santa hanging on Donna's antique cabbage slicer, a family heirloom

To those who celebrate Christmas, merry Christmas! To all, my best wishes and hopes for great celebrations, being together with friends and family, and a festive and bountiful holiday. Thanks for reading this blog and to those who take the time and care to comment, thanks for the great conversation all year long!

Posted in Holiday, Uncategorized | Comments closed

English Pork Pie

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 22, 2010

English Pork Pie/photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman

I've published this photo and this link in the past but it bears reposting, especially as today I will begin the annual Christmas morning pork pie and think about my Uncle Bill. From England with Love, published a few years ago in O magazine, is not only an ode to my Uncle Bill and his mother's Christmas morning pork pie, it's also about my beginnings as a writer about food and cooking, a time when I'd never heard the term forcemeat and had no idea what an emulsion was. The slice above is not the recipe Bill's mom, Elizabeth Morgan, used, but rather a country pâté, with dried cherries and pistachios, enclosed in the pate dough recipe, both from Charcuterie. I think I ...

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Posted in Charcutepalooza, Holiday | Tagged Articel from England with Love published in O magazine, Charcutepalooza, Pork Pie, reflection on Uncle bill's english pork pie | Comments closed

Holiday Cookie Challenge Results

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 20, 2010

Congratulations on the holiday cookie recipe challenge to Bryony DuPont of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, whose spice cookies wins the drop cookie category, and to Robin Cohen of Arlington, Massachusetts, author of the dovesandfigs blog, who's Rugalach wins the cut cookie category. I assure you that my affection for Cleveland Heights and my affection for people who cook with goosefat (see Robin's current post), did not weigh into the verdict (cookies above, photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman, thanks Donna!). The cookies were executed and evaluated by Marlene Newell and several bakers at her site CooksKorner: Dana Noffsinger, Kim Shook (she has public virtual recipe book here), Kerry Beal, aka The Chocolate Doctor, and Anna Serginson. Thank you all! My able assistant Emilia Juocys, also a primary tester, tabulated all results on a spread sheet. ...

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Posted in Challenege, Desserts, Holiday | Tagged baking, cookies, holiday, Jacquy Pfeiffer view on cookies, Joe Decker CMPC views on cookies, Michael Ruhlman holiday cookie challenge, recipe for chewy molasses spice cookies, Recipe for Cranberry Raspberry Rugalach, recipes, results from the holiday cookie challenge, schoolcraft college culinary school, the french pastry school of chicago | Comments closed

Christmas Cakes

By emilia | Published: December 20, 2010

Stollen, Christmas pudding, panettone, and Les Treize Desserts. Christmas cake traditions from all over the globe. Happy holidays, via The Wall Street Journal.

Posted in Article, Bread, Desserts | Tagged celebrating christmas with different cakes, christmas bread, christmas cakes, christmas pudding, les treize desserts, pannetone, plum pudding, stollen, wall street journal | Comments closed

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