This is a fabulous, cold-weather soup, and easy too. Cook bacon, carrot and onion, add peas and water and simmer for 45 minutes. That's basically it. The post Ruhlman's Pea Soup appeared first on Ruhlman.
<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="720" height="733" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/finished-dish-720x733.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36972" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/finished-dish-720x733.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/finished-dish-360x367.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/finished-dish-768x782.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/finished-dish-1509x1536.jpeg 1509w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/finished-dish-2011x2048.jpeg 2011w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/finished-dish-180x183.jpeg 180w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> This is a fabulous, cold-weather soup, and easy too. Cook bacon, carrot and onion, add peas and water and simmer for 45 minutes. That's basically it. <g ><path fill="#333333" d="M19,5.09V1c0-0.552-0.448-1-1-1H6C5.448,0,5,0.448,5,1v4.09C2.167,5.569,0,8.033,0,11v7c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h4v4c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h12c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-4h4c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-7C24,8.033,21.833,5.569,19,5.09z M7,2h10v3H7V2z M17,22H7v-9h10V22z M18,10c-0.552,0-1-0.448-1-1c0-0.552,0.448-1,1-1s1,0.448,1,1C19,9.552,18.552,10,18,10z"/></g> Print Ruhlman's Split Pea Soup Classic soup using 3 different onions. Course Soup Prep Time 30 minutes minutes Cook Time 45 minutes minutes Servings 4 Ingredients ½ lb bacon, cut into thin strips 1 large onion, medium dice 1 leek, well cleaned and cut into thin half moons 1 large shallot, diced kosher salt to taste 2 carrots, small to medium dice 1 lb green split peas, rinsed 6 lemon wedges Instructions Sauté the bacon until it's crisp. Pour off all but a couple tablespoons of the fat, then return the pan to a medium burner and add the onion, leek, and shallot, and cook until they're softened, 5 minutes or so, adding two healthy four-finger pinches of salt as you go. Add the carrots and continue to cook until till they're bright orange and heated through, 3 to 5 minutes or so. Turn the heat to high, add the peas, then 8 cups of water. Bring to a simmer. Skim the foam, then turn the heat to low, and cook until the peas are softened, about 40-45 minutes. Buzz the bottom of the pot with a hand blender, just to make it thick and creamy but not so much that you lose all the carrots and peas about ⅓rd of it pureed. Serve with a lemon wedge. The post Ruhlman's Pea Soup appeared first on Ruhlman.
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"Like much of what Michael has written, [this book] makes other books on the subject redundant. Filled with history information and great recipes, it will definitely improve your parties." —Ruth Reichl, in her substack newsletter, La Briffe I'm so excited to announce the publication of my new book, The Book of Cocktail Ratios: The Surprising... Read More The post The Book of Cocktail Ratios Is Out! appeared first on Ruhlman.
"Like much of what Michael has written, [this book] makes other books on the subject redundant. Filled with history information and great recipes, it will definitely improve your parties." —Ruth Reichl, in her substack newsletter, La Briffe <img decoding="async" width="720" height="1118" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Cocktail-Ratios-3D-cover-720x1118.png" alt="" class="wp-image-36644" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Cocktail-Ratios-3D-cover-720x1118.png 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Cocktail-Ratios-3D-cover-360x559.png 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Cocktail-Ratios-3D-cover-768x1192.png 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Cocktail-Ratios-3D-cover-989x1536.png 989w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Cocktail-Ratios-3D-cover-180x279.png 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Cocktail-Ratios-3D-cover.png 1254w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> I'm so excited to announce the publication of my new book, The Book of Cocktail Ratios: The Surprising Simplicity of Classic Cocktails. It's based on the idea that if you know a few simple ratios, and some basic techniques, you not only know scores of recipes, but you can also have confidence in improvising your own. The bulk of the book is devoted to isolating five primary cocktails and their many variations: The Manhattan, The Negroni, The Daiquiri, The Margarita, and The Martini, along with forays into highballs and some worthy cocktails outside ratio-based cocktails. The book was illustrated by DC- and Oregon-based artist, Marcella Kriebel, and they are exquisite! <img decoding="async" width="720" height="662" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Negroni-720x662.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36645" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Negroni-720x662.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Negroni-360x331.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Negroni-768x707.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Negroni-180x166.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Negroni.jpeg 1275w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> I love these illustrations! She has also taken my ratio charts and turned them into beautiful wheels, a snapshot of the families I've put together. (And she sells them individually on her site!) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="718" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/1._Manhattan_Cocktail_Circle_Ratio-720x718.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36648" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/1._Manhattan_Cocktail_Circle_Ratio-720x718.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/1._Manhattan_Cocktail_Circle_Ratio-360x359.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/1._Manhattan_Cocktail_Circle_Ratio-180x180.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/1._Manhattan_Cocktail_Circle_Ratio-768x766.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/1._Manhattan_Cocktail_Circle_Ratio-1536x1532.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/1._Manhattan_Cocktail_Circle_Ratio-2048x2042.jpeg 2048w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/1._Manhattan_Cocktail_Circle_Ratio-500x500.jpeg 500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> Signed Copy Giveaway! To celebrate the book's publication, I'm GIVING AWAY 5 copies! To enter, either leave a comment on this post of your favorite cocktail OR, subscribe to my free Substack newsletter (you will automatically be entered). (Please note that I can only include readers in the continental US; apologies for that.) Hope you'll have a look at the new book! Visit the Scribner site to order from your favorite source. The post The Book of Cocktail Ratios Is Out! appeared first on Ruhlman.
As I'll note in tomorrow's newsletter, Ann and I tried somewhat carelessly, two times, to make this simple-seeming pasta dish, with recipes we found on line. Both were the same: heavy, clumpy, barely edible caccio pepe, the cheese knotted into chunks, separated fat, insipid pasta. This time, we did some research and found two invaluable... Read More The post Cacio Pepe appeared first on Ruhlman.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="900" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/finished-pasta-720x900.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-36616" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/finished-pasta-720x900.jpg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/finished-pasta-360x450.jpg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/finished-pasta-768x960.jpg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/finished-pasta-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/finished-pasta-180x225.jpg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/finished-pasta.jpg 1440w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> As I'll note in tomorrow's newsletter, Ann and I tried somewhat carelessly, two times, to make this simple-seeming pasta dish, with recipes we found on line. Both were the same: heavy, clumpy, barely edible caccio pepe, the cheese knotted into chunks, separated fat, insipid pasta. This time, we did some research and found two invaluable sources that followed similar tacks. Lydia Bastianich’s recipe, and Kenji’s serious eats description of what makes it work. We did a version closer to Kenji’s in that we finished the pasta in a Dutch oven rather than a bowl, cooking the pasta in a small amount of water (to increase the starchyness of the water which will be part of the sauce). First we bloomed the pepper in some olive oil in the Dutch oven, added a ladle of the pasta water into it, then transferred the pasta to the Dutch oven using tongs so that plenty of water came with it. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="718" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/stovetop-720x718.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-36622" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/stovetop-720x718.jpg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/stovetop-360x359.jpg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/stovetop-180x179.jpg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/stovetop-768x765.jpg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/stovetop-500x500.jpg 500w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/stovetop.jpg 1440w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> Then we stirred in the grated pecorino romano, a half cup at a time, over the pasta, stirring continuously, and adding hot pasta water when it became too thick. Cheese, pasta water, cheese, pasta water. The cheese and water emulsified beautifully into creamy homogenous sauce. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="960" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/pasta-in-tongs-720x960.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36617" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/pasta-in-tongs-720x960.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/pasta-in-tongs-360x480.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/pasta-in-tongs-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/pasta-in-tongs-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/pasta-in-tongs-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/pasta-in-tongs-180x240.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/pasta-in-tongs-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> Here was the key to perfect cacio pepe: Never letting the cheese get too hot. Get the cheese too hot, and its proteins seize into clumps. And once that happens, there’s no fixing it, no undoing the clumps of knotted protein. Simply use the hot pasta water, which will be under 200˚F, to do the melting. (See the note in the recipe about salvaging the dish if your cheese does clump on you.) <g ><path fill="#333333" d="M19,5.09V1c0-0.552-0.448-1-1-1H6C5.448,0,5,0.448,5,1v4.09C2.167,5.569,0,8.033,0,11v7c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h4v4c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h12c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-4h4c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-7C24,8.033,21.833,5.569,19,5.09z M7,2h10v3H7V2z M17,22H7v-9h10V22z M18,10c-0.552,0-1-0.448-1-1c0-0.552,0.448-1,1-1s1,0.448,1,1C19,9.552,18.552,10,18,10z"/></g> Print Cacio Pepe <defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-1-33"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="33%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="33%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs><defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-1-50"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="50%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="50%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs><defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-1-66"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="66%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="66%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> The classic Italian pasta dish using little more than pepper and cheese. Course Main Course Cuisine Italian Keyword cacio peppe, Pasta, pecorina romano, pepper Prep Time 5 minutes minutes Cook Time 20 minutes minutes Servings 4 people Ingredients 2 tbsp peppercorns 1 pound spaghetti or buccatini 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp butter 2 cups finely grated pecorino romano salt to taste Instructions Toast the peppercorns in a small skillet over medium high heat until it's fragrant, about 60 to 90 seconds. Trasnfer the pepper to a spice grinder or a mortar and pulverize the pepper. In a large skillet or high sided saute pan, add the pasta and fill the pan with water so that the pasta is submerged. Put the pan over high heat and cook the pasta till it's al dente. While the pasta is cooking, begin the sauce. Put the olive oil in the pan with the pepper over medium heat and cook for a minute or so to bloom the pepper in the oil. Add the butter and remove the pan from the heat. When the pasta is cooked, ladel about a half cup of the pasta water into the pan with the oilve oil, pepper and butter. Using tongs transfer the pasta directly from the water into the pan. Season the pasta with salt (remember the cheese is salty). Begin adding the cheese slowly, stirring continuously as it melts. Add more water, then cheese. You may need only 1-½ cups of the cheese. Keep adding cheese and water until you have a smooth, silkly sauce. Serve immediately. Notes It's a good idea to have plenty of cheese on hand. If for some reason, the pan is too hot and the cheese clumps, simply remove the clumps, and add more cheese and hot water. The starchier the water, the creamier the sauce will be. This is why we cook it in a smaller amount of water. But there's no reason you can't cook the pasta in a big pot of water if you wish. If you don't want to grind your own pepper, that's fine, but I would urge you to buy a fresh tin or bottle of ground pepper. The quality of the pepper is important. IMPORTANTLY: If you do get the cheese too hot, and it clumps, you can fix it, by removing the clumps and discarding them, then adding more fresh cheese and hot pasta water. Not ideal but it can be salvaged! The post Cacio Pepe appeared first on Ruhlman.
A few weeks ago, my wife Ann decided to do something extremely rare. As some know, I have a hard time following a recipe exactly. Ann is the opposite—she’s a devout recipe follower. If I ask her “why” about anything she’s cooking in the kitchen, the answer is invariably, “Because that’s what the recipe says... Read More The post Ann's Thai-Style Chicken Curry appeared first on Ruhlman.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="960" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-finished-720x960.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36601" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-finished-720x960.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-finished-360x480.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-finished-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-finished-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-finished-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-finished-180x240.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-finished-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> A few weeks ago, my wife Ann decided to do something extremely rare. As some know, I have a hard time following a recipe exactly. Ann is the opposite—she’s a devout recipe follower. If I ask her “why” about anything she’s cooking in the kitchen, the answer is invariably, “Because that’s what the recipe says to do.” So when she said she would be making a Thai-style curry for dinner, I asked her which recipe would she be using? She replied, “I’m not using one. I’m making my own.” I felt the ground of West 12th Street tremble. “What?” I asked. She directed a you-heard-me look my way. And so she did. The result was delicious and so wonderfully simple I asked her if she would recreate it. Below, see her cooking it again and keeping track of the ingredients and amounts on her phone on her phone. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="738" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_6222-720x738.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36603" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_6222-720x738.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_6222-360x369.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_6222-768x788.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_6222-1498x1536.jpeg 1498w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_6222-1997x2048.jpeg 1997w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_6222-180x185.jpeg 180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> This is about as no-fuss as a curry can be. Curry, of course, essentially means sauce and refers to a range of Asian preparations from India to southeast Asia (I devoted an entire chapter to curries in my last cookbook, From Scratch). And that’s all this is. Vegetables and chicken sautéed and seasoned, then simmered in chicken broth and coconut milk. Taste for seasoning. Add a little cornstarch slurry if you want it thicker, or none if you like it brothy. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="960" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-bubbling-720x960.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36604" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-bubbling-720x960.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-bubbling-360x480.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-bubbling-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-bubbling-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-bubbling-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-bubbling-180x240.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thai-bubbling-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> <g ><path fill="#333333" d="M19,5.09V1c0-0.552-0.448-1-1-1H6C5.448,0,5,0.448,5,1v4.09C2.167,5.569,0,8.033,0,11v7c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h4v4c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h12c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-4h4c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-7C24,8.033,21.833,5.569,19,5.09z M7,2h10v3H7V2z M17,22H7v-9h10V22z M18,10c-0.552,0-1-0.448-1-1c0-0.552,0.448-1,1-1s1,0.448,1,1C19,9.552,18.552,10,18,10z"/></g> Print Ann's Easy Thai Curry <defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-2-33"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="33%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="33%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs><defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-2-50"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="50%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="50%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs><defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-2-66"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="66%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="66%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> A simple recipe for chicken and vegetables in a coconut milk sauce Course Main Course Cuisine Thai Keyword Chicken, one pot meal, thai, vegetables Prep Time 20 minutes minutes Cook Time 30 minutes minutes Servings 4 people Ingredients 1 onion, diced 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 red pepper, seeded and cut in 1-inch pieces 6-8 ounces green beans 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 inch ginger, grated 1 pound chicken breast, cut in a 1-inch dice (or thights if you prefer) 2 tsp paprika ½ tsp turmeric 1 tbsp coarse kosher salt 8 ounces chicken broth 1 can unsweetened coconut milk 1 tsp curry powder 2 tsp fish sauce (plus more to taste) 6 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias ½ bunch cilantro, leaves and tender stems only 1 lime, quartered Instructions Season the chicken with paprika and turmeric and let sit for 30 minutes or so. In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion, cooking them till they're tender. Add the pepper and green beans and cook till the peppers are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute or two more. Salt the vegetables as you're cooking them. Add the chicken and cook until the surface has lost all it's pinkness. Add the curry powder and stir to incorporate. Add the coconut milk to the pot and simmer ten minutes. Add the chicken broth and fish sauce, bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with the scallions, cilantro, and lime on the side for garnish. Notes Extra fish sauce and lime juice at the end are excellent. This can be made using pork shoulder if you thinly slice the pork shoulder. Serve with or on top of jasmine rice. The post Ann's Thai-Style Chicken Curry appeared first on Ruhlman.
Mouassaka! I gave it a shot. Layers of roasted potato, fragrant meat sauce, eggplant and thick cheesy béchamel. Mouassaka! I gave it a shot. Layers of roasted potato, fragrant meat sauce, eggplant and thick, cheesy béchamel. I thought it was excellent. It’s a project, but worth it. And it’s especially easy if you break the... Read More The post Moussaka appeared first on Ruhlman.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="479" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2408-720x479.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36564" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2408-720x479.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2408-360x239.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2408-768x511.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2408-1536x1022.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2408-2048x1362.jpeg 2048w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2408-180x120.jpeg 180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> Mouassaka! I gave it a shot. Layers of roasted potato, fragrant meat sauce, eggplant and thick cheesy béchamel. Mouassaka! I gave it a shot. Layers of roasted potato, fragrant meat sauce, eggplant and thick, cheesy béchamel. I thought it was excellent. It’s a project, but worth it. And it’s especially easy if you break the recipe into parts. (Full printable recipe here.) Making a bechamel takes five minutes. The meat sauce is a basic meat sauce, season cooked ground meat, season it, deglaze with wine. These can both be made as many as three or four days ahead. Day you want to serve, slice and roast the potato and eggplant (an hour). Then you’re good to go. I fried the eggplant, but I felt they were overly oily. I recommend baking them at the same time you bake the potato slices. <g ><path fill="#333333" d="M19,5.09V1c0-0.552-0.448-1-1-1H6C5.448,0,5,0.448,5,1v4.09C2.167,5.569,0,8.033,0,11v7c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h4v4c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h12c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-4h4c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-7C24,8.033,21.833,5.569,19,5.09z M7,2h10v3H7V2z M17,22H7v-9h10V22z M18,10c-0.552,0-1-0.448-1-1c0-0.552,0.448-1,1-1s1,0.448,1,1C19,9.552,18.552,10,18,10z"/></g> Print Moussaka Greek dish of potatoes meat sauce, eggplant and bechamel Course Main Course Cuisine Greek Keyword eggplant, potatoes Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes Cook Time 1 hour hour Servings 6 Equipment 4-5 medium potatoes peeled Plenty of olive oil, for cooking 4 large eggplants peeled, sliced ½-inch thick and salted for 30 minutes salt as needed 1 medium onion small dice 1 pound ground beef 1 pound ground lamb ½ tsp cinnamon ¼ tsp allspice 2 bay leaves 1 cup white or red wine 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes pureed in a blender or using a handblender ¾ cup flour 1 sitck butter 1 quart milk 1 cup parmigiano reggiano nutmeg 2 egg yolks Instructions Rub the potatoes with olive oil and bake till golden at 425 (turning them once) until they are soft and have a nice golden color., about 45 mins. Salt the eggplant for 30 mins then pat them dry and brush with olive oil and roast in a 425˚F oven until soft, 30 to 45 minutes. (Frying the eggplant is traditional but that's more time consuming and results in greasy eggplant.) Make the meat sauce. Saute the onion in olive oil, add the meat and cook, breaking the meat up. Drain fat. Add the seasonings, stir, then had 1 cup white or red wine. Cook till dry. Add the tomatoes. Cook till most of the liquid has cooked off, about 45 mins. Make the bechamel. Melt the butter, add the flour and make a roux. Add the milk, whisking, and simmer till thick. Add salt and nutmeg to taste. remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Allow to cool somewhat and whisk in the yolks. Assemble the moussaka. Spread a thin layer of panko on bottom of 9x13 dish (to absorb any excess liquid from the eggplant). Layer in the potatoes. Cover with meat sauce. Cover with eggplant. Spread the bechamel on top. Top with a coating of panko. Sprinkle ¼ cup of reggiano over the top. Bake 1 hour at 350. Allow to rest 15 minutes before serving. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="960" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2494-720x960.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36565" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2494-720x960.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2494-360x480.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2494-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2494-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2494-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2494-180x240.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2494-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="960" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2495-720x960.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36566" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2495-720x960.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2495-360x480.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2495-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2495-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2495-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2495-180x240.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2495-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="960" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2496-720x960.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36567" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2496-720x960.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2496-360x480.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2496-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2496-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2496-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2496-180x240.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_2496-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="960" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/finished-720x960.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36568" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/finished-720x960.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/finished-360x480.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/finished-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/finished-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/finished-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/finished-180x240.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/finished-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> The post Moussaka appeared first on Ruhlman.
A recipe for braised lamb shanks. The post Braised Curried Lamb Shanks appeared first on Ruhlman.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="664" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2508-720x664.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36527" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2508-720x664.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2508-360x332.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2508-768x709.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2508-1536x1417.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2508-2048x1889.jpeg 2048w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2508-180x166.jpeg 180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> Let’s start with one of the best dishes we’ve made this winter, a curried tomato-braised lamb shank (recipe below). It came about because Ann and I were tired of the same-olds, it was winter, and winter is the time to braise. I had a look at a couple of my own books to see what we had, How To Braise, and Ruhlman’s Twenty, which has a chapter devoted to braising. Therein lay the the lamb shanks. These are meltingly tender, cooked in a tomato base with heavy seasonings of curry and cumin. Ras-el-hanout, the Arabic seasoning mixture, is great but a good curry powder will do the trick. <g ><path fill="#333333" d="M19,5.09V1c0-0.552-0.448-1-1-1H6C5.448,0,5,0.448,5,1v4.09C2.167,5.569,0,8.033,0,11v7c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h4v4c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h12c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-4h4c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-7C24,8.033,21.833,5.569,19,5.09z M7,2h10v3H7V2z M17,22H7v-9h10V22z M18,10c-0.552,0-1-0.448-1-1c0-0.552,0.448-1,1-1s1,0.448,1,1C19,9.552,18.552,10,18,10z"/></g> Print Braised Curried Lamb Shanks slow cooked lamb shanks in a curried tomato sauce Course Main Course Cuisine American Keyword braise, curry, lamb, shanks Prep Time 30 minutes minutes Cook Time 3 hours hours Servings 4 Author Michael Ruhlman Ingredients 4 lamb shanks kosher salt as needed all-purpose flour as needed 1 large onion large dice 2 large carrots large dice 5 garlic cloves smashed 1 tbsp ground cumin 1 tbsp ground coriander ½ tsp cayenne powder (optional) 2 tsp ras-el-hanout or curry powder (or more if you love curry) 1 cinnamon stick (or ½ tsp ground) 2 tsp finely minced or crushed garlic 1 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes 1 cup red wine Instructions Season the lamb shanks liberally with salt and set aside long enough for the salt to dissolve, 15 minutes or up to 2 days. Dredge the shanks in flour (I put the flour and lamb in a plastic bag and shake). In a Dutch oven or heavy ovenproof pot, add ¼ inch oil to the pot over high heat. When the oil is very hot, brown the floured shanks till they have a nice golden brown crust. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate. Heat your oven to 300˚F. Pour the excess oil out of the pot. Wipe out the pot if the flour has burned and add a film of fresh oil and, over medium high heat, saute the onion, carrot and garlic till tender, five minutes or so. Move the vegetables to the side of the pot and add the cumin, coriander, cayenne (if using), and ras-el-hanout or curry powder, and cinnamon. Stir to toast the spices then stir in the vegetables till they're coated with the spices. Nestle the shanks into the pot. Add the tomatoes and red wine (it's best to crush the tomatoes in your hand as you add them to the pot). Cover the pot with a parchment lid (google ruhlman parchment lid for a video), or with the lid left slightly ajar, and place in the oven. Cook for 3 hours or until the shanks a completely tender. Carefully remove the shanks from the pot. Blend the braising liquid with a hand blender (or in standing blender). Return the shanks to the pot with the sauce. This can be served immediately or refrigerated for up to 5 days, then reheated and served. Notes These shanks can be garnished with a traditional gremolata (minced parsley, garlic and lemon zest) or with lemon confit and cilantro. I like to serve these with couscous. Ras-el-hanout is a great Arabic seasoning available in good spice stores. The post Braised Curried Lamb Shanks appeared first on Ruhlman.
With these last few posts on cooking for groups, it occurred to me that I should post one of my go-to, fabulously easy, always-gets-raves main course that serves a lot of people. East Carolina barbecue, called pulled pork here up north. When I arrived at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, from Cleveland, Ohio, in... Read More The post East Carolina Barbecue appeared first on Ruhlman.
With these last few posts on cooking for groups, it occurred to me that I should post one of my go-to, fabulously easy, always-gets-raves main course that serves a lot of people. East Carolina barbecue, called pulled pork here up north. When I arrived at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, from Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1980s I knew the word barbecue to be a verb. You did it on a grill. As a noun, it meant a gathering to eat food cooked on a grill—it was something you invited neighbors to. But on the drive back from a place called Jugtown (to get there we’d gone through a town called Whynot, with a church named after the town; loved that), we stopped at what looked like an actual shack in the woods, billowing smoke, and had the most amazing true-blue unbelievable Carolina barbecue. I remember asking, “It’s just called barbecue?” I’d never had anything like it. It marked my introduction to the glories of the pig. I’d grown up with pork chops, pork roast (with Lipton dried onion soup on top), and spareribs, but barbecue was a revelation. Sweet, sour, porky, smoky, giving a pleasure that made my spine hum. It wasn’t till years later when friends made a version of it that I thought to develop my own, or really just read a few traditional recipes and create a version that is as close to what I ate and still eat when I return to North Carolina. (Not many traditional recipes call for fish sauce.) But it’s true to East Carolina barbecue traditional: vinegar, sugar, red chilli flakes, mixed with pork that’s cooked low and slow till it pulls apart between two forks. (Go west, go south and barbecue morphs into a whole other dish). The following recipe should be enough sauce for a 5-pound bone-in skin-on pork shoulder. How you cook it is your business. Ideally, sear it hard over coals in the Weber, covered for 20 to 30 minutes, then put it in a Dutch oven, covered, for 6 hours at 250 degrees (or 4 hours at 300˚F). I think smoke is critical, but if you want to make it super easy on yourself, put the raw shoulder in a Dutch oven and roast it covered at 225 overnight and that’ll do the trick as well. Stir in the sauce. Taste for seasoning—salt, sweetness, acidity,heat. Adjust as you wish. Having a superbowl party? A family reunion? This is a fabulous thing to prepare. It gets better the next day, so you can make it a day ahead and reheat. A five pound shoulder will feed 20 people. <g ><path fill="#333333" d="M19,5.09V1c0-0.552-0.448-1-1-1H6C5.448,0,5,0.448,5,1v4.09C2.167,5.569,0,8.033,0,11v7c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h4v4c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h12c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-4h4c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-7C24,8.033,21.833,5.569,19,5.09z M7,2h10v3H7V2z M17,22H7v-9h10V22z M18,10c-0.552,0-1-0.448-1-1c0-0.552,0.448-1,1-1s1,0.448,1,1C19,9.552,18.552,10,18,10z"/></g> Print East Carolina BBQ Sauce <defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-5-33"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="33%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="33%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs><defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-5-50"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="50%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="50%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs><defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-5-66"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="66%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="66%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> The classic vinegar based sauce Course Main Course Cuisine American Keyword barbecue Prep Time 5 minutes minutes Ingredients 1 cup cider vinegar ¼ cup brown sugar 1 tbsp red pepper flakes 1 tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce (this is not traditional) kosher salt to taste one 3-5 lb pork shoulder, cooked (see note below) Instructions Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer, stir and remove from the heat. Add to cooked shredded pork as needed. Notes To cook the pork: Ideally, sear it hard over coals on a grill, covered, for 20 to 30 minutes, then put it in a Dutch oven, covered, for 6 hours at 250 degrees (or 4 hours at 300˚F). I think smoke is critical, but if you want to make it super easy on yourself, put the raw shoulder in a Dutch oven and roast it covered at 225 overnight and that’ll do the trick as well. It should shred easily using forks. Discard and bones. Keep shredding until all the meat, juices, fat, and skin are uniformly distributed. Stir in the sauce. Taste for seasoning—salt, sweetness, acidity, heat. Adjust as you wish. Serve on soft buns with bread and butter pickles. Want to read more on the history of Carolina barbecue, this is an excellent history, Flavored By Time. One of the best barbecue books I’ve come across recently, and this, while it’s heavily weighted in Texas Barbecue, it’s a good book Peace, Love and Barbecue. The post East Carolina Barbecue appeared first on Ruhlman.
It is that time in summer when the basil starts taking over my yard and local tomatoes are finally ripe, red and misshapen and so juicy that after I cut into one I need to wipe down the counter. In other words, it’s the perfect confluence of ingredients for tomato pie. And not just any... Read More The post Laurie Colwin's Tomato Pie appeared first on Ruhlman.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="960" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/finished-pie-720x960.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-36489" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/finished-pie-720x960.jpeg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/finished-pie-360x480.jpeg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/finished-pie-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/finished-pie-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/finished-pie-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/finished-pie-180x240.jpeg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/finished-pie-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> It is that time in summer when the basil starts taking over my yard and local tomatoes are finally ripe, red and misshapen and so juicy that after I cut into one I need to wipe down the counter. In other words, it’s the perfect confluence of ingredients for tomato pie. And not just any tomato pie, but Laurie Colwin’s tomato pie, a feast of tomatoes and cheese and basil baked into a double-biscuit crust. So begin’s Ann Hood’s essay on tomato pie, collected in her Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love, and Food as well as Best Food Writing 2014. This is a remarkable essay, which I often use in classes on food writing, because it accomplishes so much, a whole life, in just 2,500 words—her entire family, her becoming a flight attendant, how she became a writer, the death of her brother, the death of her father, an ode to the writer Laurie Colwin, the death of an aunt from a wisdom tooth extraction, her job waitressing during college, her three children, one of whom dies, and, obviously, tomato pie. Of course, the essay is not about tomato pie, it’s about loss, lost family, lost time, and yet reconciling it, through the this gift of a summer, that we can and do go on. I am smiling now, at Colwin, wherever she is, at all the people and all the things I lost, because in this moment I feel that maybe we never really lose the things we love. Maybe they are still, somehow, close. And following this epiphany, she goes on to make a tomato pie, one to relish as tomato juice runs down the chin, one to remember pies of 10, 20, 30 years ago. And to appreciate how food keeps us connected to our many selves, and to our many loves. Wednesday evening, in a rented house on the Westport River, was tomato pie time for Ann. But it was different in two ways. She had a house filled with 10 people, and so she decided to make five (because they are delicious for days, hot or cold), more pies than she’d ever made. Also she was teaching me, her husband, how she makes tomato pie, itself remarkable in that she typically asks me with her expression alone, to leave the kitchen because she is cooking and does not want to feel judged. And I felt myself lucky that she needed the extra hands for five pies and dinner in an hour and a half, because this recipe is a reminder how simple the best recipes are, how amazing tomatoes and mayo are together, how easy a simple crust of butter and flour and milk. Ann doesn’t even roll the dough out, just smushed into the bottom and smushed and spread over the top. <g ><path fill="#333333" d="M19,5.09V1c0-0.552-0.448-1-1-1H6C5.448,0,5,0.448,5,1v4.09C2.167,5.569,0,8.033,0,11v7c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h4v4c0,0.552,0.448,1,1,1h12c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-4h4c0.552,0,1-0.448,1-1v-7C24,8.033,21.833,5.569,19,5.09z M7,2h10v3H7V2z M17,22H7v-9h10V22z M18,10c-0.552,0-1-0.448-1-1c0-0.552,0.448-1,1-1s1,0.448,1,1C19,9.552,18.552,10,18,10z"/></g> Print Tomato Pie <defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-6-33"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="33%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="33%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs><defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-6-50"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="50%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="50%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs><defs><linearGradient id="wprm-recipe-rating-6-66"><stop offset="0%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="66%" stop-opacity="1" /><stop offset="66%" stop-opacity="0" /><stop offset="100%" stop-opacity="0" /></linearGradient></defs> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> <path fill="none" stroke="#343434" stroke-width="2" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M11.99,1.94c-.35,0-.67.19-.83.51l-2.56,5.2c-.11.24-.34.4-.61.43l-5.75.83c-.35.05-.64.3-.74.64-.11.34,0,.7.22.94l4.16,4.05c.19.19.27.45.22.7l-.98,5.72c-.06.35.1.7.37.9.29.21.66.24.98.08l5.14-2.71h0c.24-.13.51-.13.75,0l5.14,2.71c.32.16.69.13.98-.08.29-.21.43-.56.37-.9l-.98-5.72h0c-.05-.26.05-.53.22-.7l4.16-4.05h0c.26-.24.34-.61.22-.94s-.4-.58-.74-.64l-5.75-.83c-.26-.03-.48-.21-.61-.43l-2.56-5.2c-.16-.32-.48-.53-.83-.51,0,0-.02,0-.02,0Z"/> Laurie Colwin's Perfect Summer Pie Course main or sidedish Cuisine American Keyword Pie, tomato Prep Time 30 minutes minutes Cook Time 30 minutes minutes Ingredients 2 cups flour 4 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 1 stick butter, cut into 8 or 10 pieces ¾ cup milk 2 pounds tomatoes 1-½ cups grated cheddar ⅓ cup mayonnaise 2 tbsp lemon juice julienned basil to taste (about ½ cup) Instructions Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and pinch it into the flour until it is all in pea-sized bits. Add the milk and mix with a spoon or by hand until the dough comes together. If you need to add more milk, do so. Smash half of this dough into the bottom of a pie plate (it will be about a half-inch thick). According to Ann, it doesn't matter if it comes up the side, just the bottom. Though Colwin asks you to roll the dough out, which is fine, too. Heat your oven to 400˚F. Slice the tomatoes and layer them on top of the dough. Mix the mayo and lemon juice, and pour this over the tomatoes. (If you wish, add basil here.) Top it all with the cheddar cheese. Fashion the remaining dough into a top and spread it over the pie. Try to cover the entire pie but don't worry overly about this; it's a biscuit crust. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and cooked through. Serve at room temperature garnished with the basil. Tomato Pie an essay by Ann Hood, originally published by Tin House and republished here with the permission of the author. It is that time in summer when the basil starts taking over my yard and local tomatoes are finally ripe, red and misshapen and so juicy that after I cut into one I need to wipe down the counter. In other words, it’s the perfect confluence of ingredients for tomato pie. And not just any tomato pie, but Laurie Colwin’s tomato pie, a feast of tomatoes and cheese and basil baked into a double-biscuit crust. I first discovered this recipe back in the nineties, in a long-ago Gourmet magazine. I ripped it out and took it with me for a week with my parents and assorted relatives in a rented house at Scarborough Beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island. There, in the hot, outdated, Formica-linoleum-avocado-green 1970s kitchen, I made loads of tomato pies, maybe even dozens. The recipe got splattered with tomato guts and mayonnaise—yes, mayonnaise is an ingredient, too, but only one-third of a cup—the words smearing in spots. But it didn’t matter, because by the end of the week I knew the recipe by heart: You place a layer of biscuit crust in a pie pan, cover it with sliced fresh tomatoes, sprinkle with chopped basil, and top with shredded cheddar cheese. You then pour a mixture of mayonnaise and lemon juice over the filling, cover it all with the second crust, and bake until it’s browned and bubbly. The smells of that pie on a hot summer day make you feel dizzy, so intoxicating are they. No one in my family knew just how important that tomato pie was to me. Not just because it used the freshest ingredients at their prime deliciousness. Not just because eating tomato pie is something akin to reaching nirvana. Not even because it made me popular and look incredibly talented. No, this tomato pie was important to me because it wasn’t just anybody’s recipe. Can there be people out there who do not know Laurie Colwin’s writing? Yes, she wrote a Gourmet magazine column in the nineties, but she also wrote eight books of fiction, both short stories and novels. Back in the late seventies and early eighties, when I was working as a TWA flight attendant and dreaming of becoming a writer, Colwin was one of my heroines. This was before she began doing food writing, when her stories would appear like little jewels in the New Yorker. When I would read lines like these from “Mr. Parker”: “He was very thin . . . but he was calm and cheery, in the way you expect plump people to be.” Or: “As a girl she’d had bright red hair that was now the color of old leaves.” I would smile at just how apt her descriptions were, and at how perfectly she captured real people. “‘I don’t work. I’m lazy. I don’t do anything very important . . . I just live day to day enjoying myself,’” a character tells us in Colwin’s 1978 novel, Happy All the Time. To me then—and now—Colwin was a kind of Manhattan Jane Austen. Her novels and stories examine ordinary people and ordinary lives, the very kind of writing I wanted to do. Even though she tackles themes like marital love and familial love, themes that might be construed as sentimental, Colwin appreciates and plumbs the ambiguities of relationships with a sharp eye. In Happy All the Time, at a dinner party with her new husband, her character Misty thinks: “How wonderful everything tasted . . . Everything had a sheen on it. Was that what love did, or was it merely the wine? She decided that it was love.” But just when Colwin appears to be veering perhaps too near sentimentality, she throws a dead-on observation at us. Misty says to her husband: “‘You believe in happy endings. I don’t. You think everything is going to work out fine. I don’t. You think everything is ducky. I don’t.’” She then goes on to explain: “‘I come from a family that fled the Czar’s army, got their heads broken on picket lines, and has never slept peacefully anywhere.’” Colwin does this again and again in her fiction. In A Big Storm Knocked It Over, her posthumously published 1994 novel, the character Jane Louise observes of other women: “Their pinkness, their blondness, their carefully streaked hair, nail polish, eyelash curlers, mascara, the heap of things . . . that Jane Louise never used made her feel they were women in a way that she was not.” She is generous to her characters. And funny. And honest. The first time I saw her was in the eighties, long before I baked a tomato pie. I was writing what I thought were interconnected short stories (they later become my first novel). Colwin and Deborah Eisenberg were reading at Three Lives bookstore, not far from my Bleecker Street apartment. In those days, the New Yorker ran two short stories a week, and sometimes the writers read together at Three Lives. I remember it as a January or February night, cold with an icy sleet falling as I made my way to the reading. I arrived late, or maybe just on time: they had not yet begun to read but a hush had already fallen over the packed store. For a moment, I paused in the doorway and stared at the two women sitting together at the front of the crowd: Eisenberg, skinny and dark-haired, her legs folded up like origami; Colwin curly-haired and plump and grinning at the audience. She looked up and, I swear, in that moment, I thought she was grinning at me. I thought—and this sounds crazy, I know—but I thought she was beckoning me in, not just to the little bookstore, but into the world of words and writers. A woman, annoyed, in charge, began waving her arms at me to come and sit. And then the irritated woman pointed at the only place left to sit, which happened to be right at the feet of Laurie Colwin. Although my family did not flee the Czar’s army or get our heads broken on picket lines, we were—like many in Colwin’s fiction—a waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop family. There was an aunt dead during a wisdom-teeth extraction. An uncle dead on a dance floor on Valentine’s night. But also like Colwin’s characters, who find “the experience of having a baby exactly like falling madly in love,” as Billy does in Another Marvelous Thing, we love fiercely. And those weeks in those rented beach houses in the early nineties could have, in many ways, stepped right out of Happy All the Time: “We’re all together. We’re a family and we’re friends. I think that’s the best thing in the world.” We have always been a public beach kind of family—no pool clubs or private cabanas for us. Growing up, I spent most of my summers sweating in our backyard or watching game shows on TV, sitting in front of a fan and eating root-beer popsicles. My mother worked at a candy factory, stuffing plastic Christmas stockings with cheap toys and candy all summer. But she got Fridays off, and she and my aunt would load us kids into one of their station wagons and drive down to Scarborough Beach, where my cousin Gloria-Jean and I sat on a separate blanket and pretended not to know the rest of the family. We had plans, big plans. To leave Rhode Island and our blue-collar, immigrant Italian roots behind. Even at the beach, we toted Dickens or Austen, big fat books that helped the hot, humid summer pass. I did escape. First to college, where I waitressed every summer at a tony beach club and studied how the women there held their fancy drinks—Brandy Alexanders and Lillet with a twist of orange peel. I studied how they held themselves, too, the way they shrugged their sweaters from their shoulders directly into a man’s waiting hands. The way they looked, a combination of boredom and amusement. I studied their children, who learned how to play tennis and how to dive, how to order lunch from the guy at the grill and sign their parents’ names and membership numbers on the bill. In 1978 I became a flight attendant, a job I held for the next eight years, serving mostly businessmen in first class. I was trained to carve chateaubriand, dress lamb chops in foil stockings, mix a perfect martini. I developed a taste for the leftover caviar and the champagne from duty-free shops across Europe. Eventually I settled on Bleecker Street in New York City and fulfilled a dream I’d had since I read Little Women in second grade—I became a writer. Even after I began publishing, I often thought of that reading at Three Lives. I believe Colwin read from what would become Goodbye Without Leaving, her novel about the only white backup singer in a touring soul group. But the memory is fuzzy. I mostly remember the smells of steam heat and wet wool, the way the audience listened, rapt. I remember wanting to say something to Colwin, something about how her generous heart came through on the page, how happy I felt when I saw a new story by her. But I was too shy. I stood and watched people line up to speak to her and to Eisenberg, to get books signed and shake hands. And then I left. As I walked back through that cold icy night, something settled in me: I could do this. I could be a writer. No. I would be a writer. And as corny and impossible as it sounds, Laurie Colwin’s smile, the one she sent to me that night, made it so. As is often the case, with success came a longing for home. How I longed for the taste of my mother’s meatballs; the casual way I would flop on the couch beside my father, dropping my feet into his lap; the noisy nights around the kitchen table with all those loud, Pall Mall–smoking, black-coffee-drinking relatives; the long sandy beaches of Rhode Island with the smell of Coppertone and clam cakes frying in oil mingling with the salty air. Of course I loved where I had landed, in a small apartment on Bleecker Street, my books on bookstore shelves, my days spent writing, my nights at parties or readings, just as I’d imagined, or maybe hoped, when I’d dreamed of a writer’s life. But I wanted home too, and when I offered to rent a house at the beach, my parents assumed it would be at Scarborough. I brought lots of recipes with me that first summer and for the dozen or so that followed. But it was the tomato pie that became a symbol of those weeks in that split ranch house across a busy road from the crowded beach. The more local tomatoes that appeared at the Stop & Shop, the more pies I made. We ate the pies on the back deck of those houses—we never rented the same exact one, yet they were all identical, located in a treeless development called Eastward Look. We ate tomato pies with grilled cheeseburgers and hot dogs and Italian sausages, my father manning the grill with a cold beer in his hand. There were often dozens of us at dinner—cousins and aunts and uncles and the women from my mother’s Friday night poker club. At some point, pasta (we called it “macaroni”) would be served. And meatballs and my Auntie Dora’s Italian meatloaf. The tomato pie appeared at lunch with the cold cuts and sometimes even at breakfast, heated up. The soggy recipe page returned with me to Rhode Island and the rented beach house every summer, growing more faded and smudged over time. That was okay; I needed only to glance it at it to remind myself what temperature to set the oven (400 degrees) and how many lemons I needed to add to the mayo (just one). My father marveled at that pie. As a midwesterner, he always ate apple pie with cheddar cheese, and he liked that this pie had cheese in it. I admit, some of my relatives didn’t like the tomato pie, or at least remained suspicious of it. But the beach house was so crowded, so full of family, of aunts and uncles and cousins and old friends and new husbands, that the response to the naysayers was just More for us, then! Over time, we stopped renting those beach houses at Scarborough Beach. My father got lung cancer, got sick, then sicker, then died. My aunts and uncles died too. And my mother’s Friday night poker club dwindled from twelve to nine to four as the women too died. Cousins moved away. New husbands became ex-husbands. And that recipe, the one torn from a long-ago Gourmet, got lost in the move from one apartment to another, or perhaps one city to another. And then I read somewhere that Laurie Colwin had died suddenly at only forty-eight from heart failure—much as Mrs. Parker in Colwin’s 1973 short story “Mr. Parker” dies suddenly, in October, of heart failure. Wrapped up in the heartbreak of a failed romance, I learned about it months later, in winter. Had it been summer, had I still owned that faded recipe, I would have made tomato pie the day I heard. In the two decades since then, I have found and lost love and found it again. It has turned me to mush. I’ve published over a dozen books. I’ve had three children, and lost one suddenly and horribly when she was only five. My heart has broken again and again, and miraculously it has healed. There have been so many things I didn’t take good enough care of, or hold on to tight enough, because we don’t really believe we will lose them, do we? Somehow we are always stunned that things go away, disappear, die. People, too. They leave us and, despite knowing better, their leaving is always a surprise. One summer day, I line up farm tomatoes on my windowsill, I glimpse the basil taking over my yard, and I have one thought: tomato pie. Is it too much to hope that the recipe had found its way to the Internet? I type in Laurie Colwin and tomato pie and just like that I have it again, my beloved recipe, still the ripe tomatoes, still the basil and double-biscuit crust, and, yes, still one-third of a cup of mayonnaise. I preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I cut into the tomatoes, letting their juice spill everywhere, and I remember that long-ago winter night when I stood in the doorway of Three Lives bookstore and Laurie Colwin smiled at me. I am smiling now, at her, wherever she is, at all the people and all the things I lost, because in this moment I feel that maybe we never really lose the things we love. Maybe they are still, somehow, close. I go into the yard and pluck the greenest, most tender leaves of basil and I hold them to my nose and breathe in, deep. In that instant, I am back at Scarborough Beach and the women in my mother’s card club are all there, ready to throw their pennies onto the table, and my aunts are complaining about putting tomatoes in a pie and my father is grinning because there is cheddar cheese in it and the recipe is smeared but still readable and the tomatoes are so fresh and so red that I swear, there has never been anything that red since. The post Laurie Colwin's Tomato Pie appeared first on Ruhlman.
Dalton-Ruhlman Products& Rush Order Tees
Just as Mac and Emilia and I were trying to decide how best to relaunch our line of spoons and kitchen tools, a young woman named Stacey, from a company called Rush Order Tees, wrote to me asking if I wanted a T-shirt customized for me. I thought this was a splendid idea! A while... Read More The post Dalton-Ruhlman Products & Rush Order Tees appeared first on Ruhlman.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="720" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/BFBB5F96-09F7-4CEB-B920-9688201BDF9F-720x720.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-36477" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/BFBB5F96-09F7-4CEB-B920-9688201BDF9F-720x720.jpg 720w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/BFBB5F96-09F7-4CEB-B920-9688201BDF9F-360x360.jpg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/BFBB5F96-09F7-4CEB-B920-9688201BDF9F-180x180.jpg 180w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/BFBB5F96-09F7-4CEB-B920-9688201BDF9F-768x768.jpg 768w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/BFBB5F96-09F7-4CEB-B920-9688201BDF9F-500x500.jpg 500w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/BFBB5F96-09F7-4CEB-B920-9688201BDF9F.jpg 1367w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /> Just as Mac and Emilia and I were trying to decide how best to relaunch our line of spoons and kitchen tools, a young woman named Stacey, from a company called Rush Order Tees, wrote to me asking if I wanted a T-shirt customized for me. I thought this was a splendid idea! A while back, I asked Joleen and David Hughes, of Level Design in Calistoga, to create a logo for my site. They came up with the very clever knife-and-quill logo that tops this page. I love it. And so I put it on a Rush Order Tees T-shirt. I'm really impressed by the quality of the shirt itself and the quality of the design on the shirt. The question is, is it too self-serving to give them as gifts?! As for the Dalton-Ruhlman products, they are currently found at JBPrince (just put my name into the search box to see what they carry). If you're in Providence, RI, though, the excellent Stock Culinary Goods has started carrying them as well. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="399" height="707" src="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Image-7-14-21-at-5.49-PM.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-36484" srcset="https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Image-7-14-21-at-5.49-PM.jpg 399w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Image-7-14-21-at-5.49-PM-360x638.jpg 360w, https://ruhlman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Image-7-14-21-at-5.49-PM-180x319.jpg 180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px" /> Happy cooking everyone! The post Dalton-Ruhlman Products & Rush Order Tees appeared first on Ruhlman.