An array of tools I didn't want to be without when I arrived in an unfamiliar kitchen.
Beef short rib, cooked sous vide 48 hours at 140F/60C, finished on grill. Photo by Donna
All photos by Donna Turner Ruhlman
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 ...
Tea eggs with sichuan salt and scallions at The Lantern/all photos by Donna Turner Ruhlman
I'm such a homebody, I dread book tour trips and typically stress about them, and I nearly always return thrilled to have gone and surprised and amazed by what I encountered. Last week was Chicago and the schedule was so tight that I took a taxi from O'Hare straight to the Chicago Tribune's test kitchen where Monica Eng, formerly a food reporter now on the investigative beat, reverted to her former purview to join me in making an easy Coq au Vin from Ruhlman's Twenty (I forgot how good it was till I tasted it—haven't made it since Donna took the pix). I had time for a quick lunch after across the street at The Purple Pig (pig ears and the artichokes), excellent casual place recommended by a twitter friend.
That night there was ...
For years I’ve wanted to devise a new way to present how-to cooking information on a show. There's a reason why they've been dubbed dump-and-stir; because they’re inherently rote. Given that there are only about twenty things you need to know to cook just about anything, it’s inevitable that presenting a few of those techniques is going repetitive after oh, 40 or 50,000 shows. Yes, people are pushing the format. Michael Symon does a good job with Cook Like an Iron Chef. Others are trying to put cooking info in the framework of a story, adding layers of media.
My old friend from Cooking Under Fire, Ming Tsai, invited me out to be part of his ninth season of "Simply Ming," a how-to, yes, but always interesting, always informative, with travel, and knowledgeable guest chefs (look for ...
Parading Team USA's "Manhattan" meat platter before judges/Photo by Joshua David Stein
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