Great recipes

Here’s another take on the never-ending debate over whether cookbooks have a future: As long as hoarding remains one of the most basic human urges, they certainly do. Thanks to what I do, I get a steady stream of review copies, and they pile up. I review the good (or really bad) ones, and keep them, too, but the lame ones really pile up. Bookcases in three rooms are overflowing with my culls, and occasionally I’ll go through and do a second edit and stuff the losers into a closet until I get motivated to schlep to the church thrift shop down the street, which has a really well-maintained book room. Unfortunately, when I start to load them into bags, I too often have second thoughts. Like with this one. I made the mistake of flipping through it, and now it’s back in the collection. The recipes are from 1988, and are heavy on the cream and butter, but that makes them maybe have historical value on how a Swiss chef worked before olive oil took over the kitchen. I do find even I’m cooking less and less from books, though. It’s just too easy to dip into the huge Epicurious collection and print something out fast. But that makes me think books in print could have a limited life. I always thought newspapers and magazines would always be around for two reasons: You need something to read on the subway and in the bathroom. Since we got an iPad, that’s all changed . . . .

Alana Chernila, author of The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), cooks the way I’d like to cook: with love and purpose, as well as for pleasure. And she conveys that spirit with her recipes for pantry items and humble basics. Toward the end of the introduction, she asks, “Tell me, who really is the kind of person who makes butter?” Her answer gently reminds us that there was a time when a lot of people made their own butter. But in this day and age when it can feel like making a simple meal turns into a huge production, goods that are store-bought and prepackaged can be a godsend. I know I’m not the only one who relies on convenience and ease of availability. And yet, there’s a sensibility that drives books like Chernila’s that make me want to create, to make, to do. Even if it is just butter. (Recipes after the jump.) She puts it quite eloquently: “If we are to become people who do make butter, we might have to shift the way we see ourselves a bit. We might have to get into the adventurous spirit and unearth our curiosity about where our food comes from. We might have to make a colossal mess of the kitchen. And we might have to slow down, at least long enough to knead a loaf of bread before the day begins. Here are a few reasons I have found myself to be the kind of person who makes butter.” That said, you’ll find recipes for cereals, condiments, and salad dressings. No surprise there. Cheese, yogurt, soda syrup? Check, check, check. But for me, the double takes were reserved for the frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, and fish sticks. Homemade tortillas and breadsticks, too. And all those snack favorites from my childhood? They’re all here (albeit with slightly different names); say hello to Fruit Rollups, Toaster Pastries, the Cream-Filled Snack Cake, and the Sandwich Cookie. Yes, making jerky with a deyhdrator and popping popcorn with an air popper are faster and easier than if you didn’t have either piece of equipment but she shows you how it can be done in more ways than one. After all, there was a time when such amenities didn’t exist. But more than the food, it’s the spirit with which Chernila approaches it that makes this book worthwhile. Recipes to try: – Cream Cheese – Nut Butter – Vanilla Extract

My two-year-old daughter’s favorite thing to do these days is to stand at her play kitchen and “cut in pieces.” She got this ridiculously charming Fruit and Vegetable Play Set (pictured above) for her birthday and loves using the wooden knife to segment the velcro-connected pieces of the pear, lemon, and carrot. It’s all part of my desperate effort not to raise one of those kids who doesn’t recognize a potato, although to be honest, no mushroom on earth is as cute as the one in this playset. So much for play foods and play utensils: When can I strap an apron on this kid and get some help with dinner? If we lived in Ye Olde Farming Days (or even those fabled Good Old Days When Our Parents Were Young) she would already be milking cows and making tallow, I’m sure. Most experts agree that my daughter’s knife-wielding days are a long way off yet, although the USDA has collected a long list of resources for age-appropriate cooking activities for kids of all ages, including a helpful list of kitchen milestones for younger children (after the jump). What’s your earliest memory of helping out in the kitchen? If you’re a parent, how did you introduce your kids to the fun of cooking? Age-by-age cooking activities kids can do, from the USDA’s Cooking with Children guidelines. 2-year-olds can: • Wipe tabletops. • Scrub and rinse fruits and vegetables. • Tear lettuce or greens. • Break cauliflower. • Bring ingredients from one place to another. 3-year-olds can: • Wrap potatoes in foil for baking. • Knead and shape dough. • Mix ingredients. • Pour liquids. • Shake liquids in a covered container. • Apply soft spreads. • Put things in the trash. 4-year-olds can: • Peel oranges or hard-boiled eggs. • Mash bananas or cooked beans with a fork. • Cut parsley and green onions with kid-safe scissors. • Set the table. 5- to 6-year-olds can: • Measure ingredients. • Use an egg beater.

Behold, Hugh Hefner’s drawers. His snack drawers. In this week’s Sex issue of Gourmet Live, Kelly Senyei has lunch at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, and learns that it takes a 24/7 food service operation to keep the Playboy founder well fed. Executive Chef William Bloxsom-Carter is the man in charge of food at the mansion. “I have a staff of 12 full-time chefs who are here around the clock,” explains Bloxsom-Carter as he settles into his desk chair with a view into the kitchen. “Everything is made from scratch, including those,” he notes, motioning toward a large glass bakery case stocked with seven different kinds of pies and cakes. “You should see his little cookie drawer,” he adds, referencing Hefner’s love of freshly baked sweets. “It’s actually not all that little.” Along with Senyei’s profile, the Sex Issue contains Jane and Michael Stern’s look at testicle fare, Geoff Nicholson’s piece on What to Eat Naked, and foods certain to kill the libido. (Photo: Kelly Senyei)

Cheese soufflés are culinary double agents. They act all aloof and sophisticated, yet they are quick and easy to prepare, and a bargain in food dollars (depending on your cheese choice). Want to celebrate the cheese soufflé’s special day? Here, 10 delicious variations on the classic. Cabrales Cheese Soufflés with Endive and Asian Pear Salad Twice-Baked Cheddar Cheese Soufflés Goat Cheese Soufflés in Phyllo Cups with Frisée Salad Asparagus and Swiss Cheese Soufflés Muenster Cheese Soufflé with Red Bell Pepper and Tomato Salad Gruyère and Parmesan Cheese Soufflé Blue Cheese and Walnut Soufflés and Mesclun with Red Pepper Vinaigrette Grits, Cheese, and Onion Soufflés Twice-Baked Goat Cheese Soufflés with Salad Ricotta Soufflés with Blackberry Compote Photo: Brian Leatart

Last week, a caramelized-onion loving friend of mine sent off an e-mail with a link to Tom Socca’s Slate story on recipe writers misrepresenting the time it takes to properly brown onions. Socca focused on how many recipes say it will take only 10 to 20 minutes to achieve caramelization success, when in truth it takes much, much longer. “Finally, someone speaks truth to power!” my friend wrote in the e-mail, titled simply “Thank You!” “Undercooked onions are a scourge upon humanity.” I was reminded of the story again last night when I set out to transform four Vidalia onions into a pot of Mark Bittman’s Onion Soup. His recipe calls for browning the onions in half a stick of butter, “stirring occasionally, until very soft and beginning to brown, 30 to 45 minutes.” I hadn’t really considered the proper length of time to caramelize onions, as recipe times rarely match my own snail’s pace in the kitchen. (Baking times I always follow exactly.) For Bittman’s soup, it took about 55 minutes for caramelization–a heckuva long time–which is probably why I don’t do it too often. A shame, as they’re delicious. Do you have any tricks to speed up the caramelization process? (Photo: Romula A Yanes/Gourmet)

Last week at cooking school, we had our fin-fish class where we got an extensive overview of, well, the world of fin fish. Being a big seafood eater, I was thrilled to spend my Saturday learning about these aquatic species. It is said that there are up to 2,000 species of fish, but that we really only eat about 10 to 20 types, which fall under both the freshwater and ocean/saltwater varieties.Freshwater fish live in warmer waters and are therefore leaner, and saltwater dwellers tend to be fattier because they maintain a rigorous lifestyle in order to stay warm. There are also two types of fin fish: round and flat. Flat fish have two eyes on one side, an example being sole and flounder. Fin fish have eyes on each side. What else did we learn? How to buy fish. You don’t want your fish to be smelly, you want it to smell like the sea. Skate is one example of fish that actually smells like ammonia, even right after it’s been caught. Fish should be shiny, and clean looking, the gills should be red (not grey), and the eyes clear (not cloudy). If you can touch the fish (highly unlikely at a fish store, but just in case) it should be firm, and not mushy. It is said that with a few exceptions (cod and swordfish being examples), most fish should be undercooked! Especially because it will keep cooking even after you’ve taken it away from any heat. Fish can be sold whole (everything intact), drawn (gutted), dressed (gutted, scaled, head, tail, and fins removed), in steaks (cross-section slices, each containing a section of backbone), fillets (boneless sides of fish), butterflied fillets (both sides of fish still joined, but with bones removed), and lastly, in sticks (cross-section slices of fillets.) You can eat it raw, roasted, grilled, pan seared, steamed, poached, smoked, dried, sauteed. What’s your favorite kind of fish? And what’s your favorite way to prepare it?

We’re happy to announce the publication of two new Gourmet cookbooks, Gourmet Italian and Gourmet Weekday, both available in bookstores and in Gourmet Live’s Amazon shop. For Gourmet Italian, the editors poured over the hundreds of Italian recipes the magazine published over the years, choosing only the very best. The resulting collection includes Calamari Salad, Three-Cheese Pizza, Lasagna Bolognese, Manicotti, Quick Chicken Ragu, Pasta with Lentils and Kale, and Tiramisu. And in keeping with Gourmet tradition, each recipe comes with cooking times and kitchen tips. Gourmet Weekday tackles that ever-present dilemma of what to make for dinner. Recipes for Black Bean Burgers, Seared Scallops with Tarragon-Butter Sauce, Deviled Chicken Drumsticks, and Chocolate Fallen Soufflé Cake make supper more of a joy and less of a chore. Cooking times are included so you know what you can handle on a given weeknight and menus help you create different meal plans. For more information and to order copies, head to the Gourmet Live Amazon shop.

I have been spending much time in the wonderful city of New York these days and I like to eat, but at 152 pounds, with a snacker’s sensibility from years in kitchens, I don’t often like to sit down to a massive, multicourse meal. So a bowl of noodles is pretty fine with me. Ramen and Pho are beautiful things. Back home I go to Umaido a lot and get the Spicy Miso with Pork Belly. For a Korean-owned noodle joint doing Japanese ramen in Suwanee, Georgia, it rules. The place is simple and kind, but the broths are killer, while the noodles are fresh and have that slightly alkaline spring in their step. The eggs are always perfect, and the pork is really tender. But it’s hot. Really hot. For my kids, I get the Tonkatsu and that is a little more tempered to their liking. They pack to go really well with everything separate, so I can travel the 45 minutes home with a perfect reheatable meal. In Manhattan, I have been going a lot to Totto Ramen which is an event in itself. Totto has a lot of rules. First you read the rules “before signing.” Then you have to sign a sheet of paper with your name and the number of people in your party. Then you have to wait on the sidewalk on 52nd Street with people milling around. Do not sit down on the steps, it’s strictly verboten. There are other rules too, posted up in very rag-tag fashion around the stoop. Those stairs lead into punk rock ramen land. Waiting outside for my spot at the bar for lunch, a guy walked by and blurted out, “I don’t know why people wait so long to eat at this place. …” Such negative energy will never make you happy. My colleagues in noodles were a motley group of all shapes and sizes, many solo diners and definitely no parties larger than 4 people. It’s a tiny spot with two tables of four and a bunch of bar seats. That’s it. Finally my name was called, more accurately in pronunciation than it ever has been at Starbucks (At Starbucks, “Hugh” often becomes “Q” written on the paper cup, like the Star Trek: The Next Generation character). I got water and the Spicy Ramen. Totally wonderful . The pork is the best butaned pork belly ever. The cooks are happy and gregarious and it’s a kickass meal for $9. You should go. Just make sure you follow the rules. I also love Ippudo NY too. To the Google, people! It’s wonderful but is a little less punk rock, a little longer wait, but not so many delightful rules to absorb. All the pictures are from Totto Ramen. HUGH’S RAMEN HAUNTS Umaido 2790 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Rd. #140 Suwanee, GA 30024 678-318-8568 Ippudo NY 65 Fourth Ave. New York, NY 10003 212-388-0088 Totto Ramen 366 W. 52nd St. New York, NY 10019 212-582-0052

That’s it: I’m utterly convinced every food review written by anyone from now on should include a hair count. Thank a precocious 9-year-old girl in Scotland who calls herself Veg. (Her explanation: “My dad says I should call myself Veritas Ex Gusto, truth from tasting in Latin but who knows Latin? You can call me Veg.”) She’s already made herself into the newest, hottest foodie celebrity in the U.K. with her reports (six of them so far, sort of) on the state of the school lunch in her cafeteria, via her a blog, called NeverSeconds. The BBC has interviewed her, and Jamie Oliver has expressed his admiration. I never, ever use the word “adorable,” but that’s the only word to use here. Veg rates her meals by several measures, including how many mouthfuls she took (she usually forgets to count or runs out of ink), “food-o-meter,” and, of course how many hairs she found in it (so far, she’s only discovered two, one of which was under the one of the cucumbers above). One of the constant themes in her reportage, as both her readers and she herself will point out, is that there aren’t many veggies, and sometimes not much to eat, period. For example, on one pizza day (their school pizza looks just like they did in the U.S. when I was growing up, by the way), she was portioned out a single potato croquette: “I’d have enjoyed more than 1 croquet,” she wrote. “I’m a growing kid and I need to concentrate all afternoon and I cant do it on 1 croquette. Do any of you think you could?” Anyway, take a spin to Veg’s blog and take a gander for yourself. Fun-o-meter: 9/10 Price: Free Pieces of hair: 0