Category Archives: Guest Post

So You Want To Write a Cookbook

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: February 21, 2012

A collection of cookbooks. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman

So so so many people tell me they have a cookbook to write, asking for advice, and I almost always do my best to discourage them, with Asian delicacy and Germanic firmness, I hope. Because I believe that there are too many cookbooks out there already and the ones so often published add nothing new. So when writer and educator Dianne Jacob asked me what does define a successful cookbook, it got me thinking. She’s written an excellent post collating many, many responses from people in the industry. The responses are surprising in their diversity. The first and obvious answer is, a book is successful if it makes money for the publisher and author.  And there are many ways this can happen, meaning that a book that sells ...

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Also posted in Books, Business, Food Writing, Tips, Writing | Tagged , , | 36 Comments

Kreplach (Dumplings)

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: February 16, 2012

Crispy Kreplach/photos by Donna Turner Ruhlman

My neighbor, Lois Baron, gave me a version of this recipe, which calls for roasting and braising a beef brisket. When I told her I intended to give it a shot using leftover pot roast she said, excellent idea! Kreplach, a great way to make use of leftovers. Kreplack are often called Jewish ravioli, a staple of Jewish cuisine. Consistent with that cuisine, the main item is cooked, then it's cooked again, and then its cooked again. (Why is this?!) At least in Lois's recipe. A brisket is roasted, then it's braised, then it's ground with seasonings and egg, wrapped in dough, boiled, cooled then cooked to serve. That's three times that it gets fully cooked before being eaten. These are traditionally used in soup, and they're great that way, but Lois fried some ...

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Also posted in Beef, Ethnic Cuisine, Recipes | Tagged , , , , | 25 Comments

The Egg and the Pressure Cooker

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: February 14, 2012

Pressure cooked eggs. Photo by Laura Pazzaglia

This guest post is thanks to twitter, when someone asked me about pressure cooking eggs. I had never done them, but Laura Pazzaglia had. Laura is a pressure-cooker maniac living in Italy and blogging at hippressurecooking.com. My friend Annie LaG took her up on how to cook easy-peel hard-cooked eggs and pronounced them amazing. I have long been a fan of the egg and recently a fan of the pressure cooker (here's the one I use, via Opensky.com). I love it especially when I want to have a quick stew ready for a weeknight dinner. A 2 to 4 hour stew can be completed start to finish in under and hour.  But the egg and the pressure cooker came together on twitter. I invited Laura ...

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Also posted in Appetizers, Eggs, Kitchen Technology, Kitchen Tips, pressure cooker, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Christmas Yorkshire Pudding

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 19, 2011

Freshly made popovers. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman

Marlene Newell, who runs an excellent cooking forum called CooksKorner tested all the recipes for Ratio and Twenty. She's a friend and excellent cook. One of her passions is Yorkshire pudding, in effect, a savory popover, which is how she bakes them (as above). I, too, make roast beef for Christmans dinner and Yorkshire pudding. I believe it's critical to cook it in beef fat, for flavor, so I buy and render suet for this purpose. I've also poured the batter straight into the roasting pan which works great so long as there are no burnt bits (the pudding ripples and puffs like crazy; I then cut it to serve). I imagine the roasting pan method was how it would have originated, the batter cooking in ...

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Also posted in baking, Beef, Books, Bread, Food Writing, From Scratch, Holiday, Memories, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , | 19 Comments

Guest Post: Carri’s Bacon Truffles

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 9, 2011

 

 

Bacon truffle presented two ways. Photo by Carri Thurman
Carri Thurman has been a friend since she traveled from her home in Homer, Alaska, to visit her fellow Homerian, Daniel Coyle, author and journalist who'd moved to Cleveland with his Cleveland-born wife—bless you, Dan! (His last book was The Talent Code, fascinating look into how talent is developed.) Carri runs Two Sisters Bakery in Homer, and she offers here some fabulous confections for the holidays, right up our alley, proving once again that chocolate, like life, is better with bacon. James and I will be making these as soon as school lets out. Thanks for sharing, Carri, and for all the helpful step-by-step pix! —MR by Carri Thurman Bacon and chocolate may be a passing fad ...

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Also posted in Desserts, Pastry, Pork!, Recipes, Technique | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Holiday Cookie Time

By emilia | Published: December 5, 2011

 

My collection of holiday cookies. Photo by E. Juocys

Guest post from My Girl Friday, who loves loves loves cookies—M.R. by Emilia Juocys December is here and it is time to bake cookies. It is not as easy of a task as one might think it is. I spend about two days thinking of the combination of cookies that I will be baking and presenting for Christmas. I review classic cookies that I make year round, seasonal cookies, and ones that take a bit longer to make. My labor of love are these cookies. The two dozen that make it in the box to share with friends, loved ones, and co-workers. This is my way to share my skill and love of baking with those around me. This year will be a more meaningful Christmas baking season since my mentor has ...

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Also posted in baking, Desserts, From Scratch, Holiday, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Lunch with Pollan, Part Two:
Hopeful Words

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: October 31, 2011

Michael Pollan at The Greenhouse Tavern last week/photos by Donna Turner Ruhlman

Dan Moulthrop, a former journalism student of Michael Pollan, interviewed the writer before a sold-out crowd at the Ohio Theater last week. I asked Dan, Curator of Conversation at The Civic Commons, a Knight Foundation project to use new media and emerging technologies to strengthen civic engagement, for his thoughts on Pollan's visit. —M.R. by Daniel Moulthrop I woke up this morning from a dream in which I'd taken Michael Pollan to the West Side Market. It's just an echo of his Monday visit, and a remnant of a strong desire the Cleveland ambassador in me had to show him both that place and the Ohio City Farm. Here's my big takeaway from Monday night: The food system I grew up with is not ...

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Also posted in aromatics, Food Adventure, Food Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Gluten-Free Brioche

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: August 29, 2011

I accidentally upgraded my wordpress account and it wreaked havoc.  Lost all kinds of posts and it broke countless links.  F@$#!  One of the many post sent off unanchored into the ethernet was this guest post (and photo) by freelance writer Stephanie Stiavetti. As with her gluten-free fried chicken, enough people have asked about it that I'm reposting it again. I've really only recently become aware of what a rotten disease celiac is, especially for people who love to cook, and to eat, and to write about it.  This post with Carol Blymire (alineaathome.com) describes the situation, um, vividly (the post also has glutenfreegirl's awesome pizza dough recipe). It's also impressed on me how important it is for chefs to understand celiac disease and gluten-free cooking. Stephanie Stiavetti, a social media consultant and reluctant techie ...

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Also posted in baking, Bread, Gluten-free, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments closed

Gluten-Free Fried Chicken

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: August 3, 2011

I accidentally upgraded my wordpress account and it wreaked havoc.  Lost all kinds of posts and it broke countless links.  F@$#!  One of the many post sent off unanchored into the ethernet was this guest post (and photo) by freelance writer Stephanie Stiavetti. It was so popular I felt bad when people began complaining they couldn't find the link, so here it is again.  Steph blogs at wasabimon.com. She's also a social media consultant and reluctant techie based in the Bay Area. — M.R. by Stephanie Stiavetti A decade ago, those of us living with a gluten sensitivity were left clamoring for the "specialty" ingredients necessary to make decent substitutions for the dishes we loved and missed; rice flour cookies were rock-hard, while potato starch pizza crusts were a crumbly mess. And don't even get me started on tapioca breads - ...

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Also posted in Chicken, Gluten-free | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

How To Roast a Suckling Pig

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: August 1, 2011

The start of the pig roast. Photo by Joshua Kulp

Chefs Christine Cikowski and Joshua Kulp, among the growing legions who are making our food better and helping us to appreciate it more, call their moveable feast Sunday Dinner Club because it evoked a time when their families shared a long meal together.  Sharing meals with the people you love is far more important than I'd ever realized, a fact that deepens the more I cook, read, and listen to other cooks, both home cooks and professionals.  I love that spirit. Sunday Dinner Club is an unusual Chicago-based business created in 2004.  What the chefs do is host dinner parties in their home and invite people on their mailing list to attend. The mailing list has been cultivated over ...

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Also posted in aromatics, Charcutepalooza, Charcuterie, grilling, outdoor cooking, Pork!, Recipes, Salumi, Technique, Tips | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

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