Category Archives: Food Adventure

Paczki Day

By emilia | Published: February 20, 2012

Video: Discover in your city where you can get a delicious Polish doughnut filled with various jams and jellies, via ABC Chicago.

Also posted in Article, Bread, Desserts, Ethnic Cuisine, Food Culture, Video | Tagged CBS, Chicago, paczki, Polish, Steve Dolinsky, video | Leave a comment

El Bulli?

By emilia | Published: February 6, 2012

Video: a preview of the El Bulli menu at Next, via YouTube.

Also posted in chefs, Food Culture, Restaurants, Video | Tagged Chicago, El Bulli, ferran adria, Grant Achatz, Next, Nick Kokonas, video | Leave a comment

How To Cook For Sixteen (and not stress)

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: January 31, 2012

Lobster tails were cooked at 140˚F/60˚C for one hour; claws were boiled on stove top; bodies saved for stock that would become a lobster bisque two days later

The mission was this. Make nine great dinners for a big group, but create menues simple enough so that I could get a morning's worth of work in (ie justify 10 days in Key West) and not freak out at 4 pm. One of the first issues is what to cook food in, the vessels. So a valuable tool was the above Lexan tub which I borrowed from my friendly neighborhood restaurant, Fire (thanks Doug!); the immersion circulator was a huge help (I need to do a post on what lessons from this device that apply to home kitchens without one). I also had two huge pots for ...

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Also posted in Appetizers, grilling, Main Courses, outdoor cooking | Tagged key west, large group cooking, menu, menu planning, mise en place | 17 Comments

Stress Free Key West Menu 2012

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: January 25, 2012

Beef short rib, cooked sous vide 48 hours at 140F/60C, finished on grill. Photo by Donna

It requires a certain amount of stress to cook for a lot of people. Otherwise you won’t get it done. Too much work, and therefore too much focus and efficiency to both get everything done and also enjoy yourself. You’ve got to like this very peculiar kind of stress. Or like the release that inevitably follows. And it’s not the same kind of release as it is for the guy who, when asked why he’s banging his head against the wall, responds, “Because it feels so good when I stop.” But it’s close. You’ve just got to have that kind of love-the-pressure, love-the-release to cook for a lot of people night after night. If you do, you can make ...

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Also posted in Technique, Tips, Travel | Tagged cooking for large groups, key west, menu, menu planning | 29 Comments

Waiting For Donna

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: January 23, 2012

All photos by Donna Turner Ruhlman

Race week in Key West is a massive boondoggle for me. I wake, look out at the water, drink coffee, write until noon, personal writing, then head to the house where I cook for 12 to 16 people every night.

I straighten the kitchen, throw away a few forgotten red plastic cups with limes floating in them, make a list, do some shopping, prep what can be done ahead (make some sauces, or a stock, pick and blanch green veg). Then I go back to my room at The Galleon, condos right on the docks, and have some coffee and write and re-write some more.

The boys return from being on the water and I put ...

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Also posted in Food Culture, Food Writing, Travel, Writing | Tagged key west, photos, refection, writing | 16 Comments

Key West—Gone Fishin’

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: January 19, 2012

Surf and turf for 17, last night

Working in the morning and cooking in the afternoon, and no time to post! Been having fun cooking nightly for a houseload of hungry sailors on a generous budget. Last night was steak and lobster and smashed potatoes and salad. Cooking mussels tonight, then wahoo (never cooked before, it will be interesting), saffron rice cooked in lobster stock (that I made this afternoon), asparagus, salad, and grilled baguettes. As they are true to the sailing culture, the crew go in for liquid desserts which makes it easy for the cook! I also brought the Polyscience immersion circulator, it came in handy for the surf and turf last night. We worked together to get the lobsters all done expediently. I killed them first, Doug Moose separated the bodies and dropped them in ...

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