In a pig’s eye (and whatever else strikes your fancy)

‘In a pig’s eye’ is an American colloquialism meaning ‘not a chance in hell’. I’ve never heard anyone actually use it, but it does pop into my mind once in a while.
Rote memorization of facts someone else thinks go together because they were told at one time to memorize them sometimes strikes me as worthy [...]

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Katerina la Vermintz: The Peas and Queues of Cookery

Greetings to all! It has come to my attention that my esteemed colleagues, Catty Moira and Barry the Dog, believe they are the meow and woof of cookery philosophers, and that is why I am appearing here today. I am busy, busy, busy! and it has been most difficult since I am still stuck permanently [...]

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Barry Fig: A Dog’s Philosophy of Cooking

Dude. Here’s the rules:
1. Guard your food at all times. If you can, keep your paws on it. There may be a cat around.
2. Try to cook only when the humans are out of the house. They try to interfere and will not let you take that stick of butter you so desperately need for [...]

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Moira Tuscanaro: A Cat’s Philosophy of Cooking

It is Spring, dear ones! And after sifting through the many questions you humans have sent me I find there is one most preponderant, and it is this we will discuss today! Prrrrrrrrrr.
The question is: Moira, why don’t you Cats like to cook?
And I must tell you, this question is about as appealing to me [...]

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Spring Means Violets. (Potatoes, that is!)

I’ve sometimes seen a purple potato
And I always hope to see one
The only remaining question is
Is it better to see or eat one?

Here’s a very interesting recipe: Cod with Lapsang Souchong Oil and Puree of Violettes

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Cooking – As It Can Be Cut

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It’s Not What You Eat – It’s That You Cook

Yes, I said “that”, not “what”.
Interesting article from The Economist, titled “What’s Cooking” from The American Association for the Advancement of Science. (Please do ignore the obvious capitalized letters and what they state in the shortening of that group’s name).
YOU are what you eat, or so the saying goes. But Richard Wrangham, of Harvard University, [...]

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For Those Days When You Need an Extra Hand in the Kitchen

Just like magic. It can be done.
Now where did I put that flying teapot?
Source of wonder: Artecnica

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That Son-of-a-Bitch (Stew) is Calling My Name

I’ve wanted to make Son-of-a-Bitch Stew since forever.
It’s been so long I’ve wanted to make one that I can’t remember anymore where it was I first even heard of Son-of-a-Bitch Stew. And usually I can trot out the source of any recipe I’ve ever made or heard of because my mind is a [...]

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Questions You May Often Have Thought About: Heat vs. Knives

Anyone providing reasons for their answers wins extra karmic points in the Great Kitchen Above.
Just click on the little buttons next to your answer to vote.
To view results click on the little button at the bottom where it says that.
Easy as pie! (Easier, even . . .)

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What Does Roger Daltry Have to Do With Home on the Range, Cow Patties and Son-of-a-Bitch-Stew?

You’ll have to see it to believe it:
Extreme History – Cooking on the Chisholm Trail

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From Soup to Nuts: More Eating in the 1940’s

In this vintage ad from the 1940’s we’ve now discovered how the Chiquita Banana Helps the Pieman – and have also had a fascinating demonstration on how to flute a banana.
But that’s only dessert. ‘Where’s the beef?’ (Clara would ask) – and here it is:
Recipes from Gourmet magazine during the 1940’s, [...]

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Entre Lenotre

(Part 2, continued from preceding post)
No reason, really – why I should have been repulsed by that little scene on the table. The Chef was married but then so was the Sous Chef. Inequalities of power happen all the time. The Chef was gorgeous in an older woman sort of way – the thought did [...]

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Gaston Lenotre, A Kitchen, A Chef or Two

Some people remember the past through things they ate. Memory, place, time, flavor, people . . . all become woven together into a fabric not to be unravelled.
Just as when in those moments a piece of music will insinuate with its melody an entirely different time, now layered upon the present in a sudden spark, [...]

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Payard’s ‘Chocolate Epiphany’

I had an epiphany this morning.
As I sat at the red light in light traffic in my car after dropping off the kids at school, I realized I’d forgotten to throw on a coat.
And in that exact moment, as the radio blasted Steppenwolf’s ‘Born to Be Wild’ loud enough to be heard by anyone close [...]

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Stalking the Amblongus Pie While Frying Up a Bit of Crumbobblious Cutlet

Katerina la Vermintz sent me here. The rodents are so large.
She said to find her an amblongus to make a pie, and to hurry – as her crumbobblious cutlets are almost ready for the table! Mr. Lear is dining with her tonight and she does want everything just right.
She is essaying his two recipes published [...]

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Back in the USSR – A Russian (Georgian) Picnic for the New Year by Branston P.I. (C.K.L.E.)

Image Source: foto_decadent/Tim Walker/UK Vogue December 2008/Tales of the Unexpected/The Marvellous Mischievious Magical World of Roald Dahl
It’s not like Boris and I don’t have our challenges. Most of you think the life of a girl detective is an easy one. But my job gets tougher and tougher each day.
The last time I’d had a really [...]

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Roly-Poly Pudding: A Cautionary Tale Though Sometimes a Delicious One

The last day of the year is a time for cautionary tales. Most everyone has their own to muse on, but if you find yourself shorted in this area you can always turn to The Tale of Samuel Whiskers and the Roly-Poly Pudding to give yourself a good fright.
Here is where the action begins in [...]

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I Love QQ Food. Tang Yuen, Better Late than Never!

I love QQ food. I love Q food too.
Q is not a question. Q is a texture. Or as expressed much more succinctly and beautifully by Zoe Tribur in the Spring 2006 issue of Gastronomica
QQ is a unique oral sensation that
cannot be mistaken for any other. When you put something
in your mouth—cold or warm, salty [...]

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The Ballontine Marches Forward

I haven’t trounced the ballontine yet. It continues its sneaky advance.
There are a few recipes for ballontines online. Not a lot. The ballontine has lost to the galantine in recent years, badly.
Here’s part of a recipe for a galantine I found online – it does make mention of a ballontine some number of paragraphs into [...]

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Fighting the Ballontine (or ‘The Meaty Nightmare’)

I can not decide what to serve on Christmas.
This is not unusual – I can never decide what to serve on Christmas.
There are reasons for that (as there are reasons for most things). (Whether those reasons are reasonable or not is yet another question but let’s set that aside for the moment).
Ballontines keep popping into [...]

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