Ham Sandwich Indicted!

A work in progress: take the ingredients of a White Russian (Kaluha, vodka, cream), combine in an iSi canister and squeeze into a cup with about 1/4 c. of liquid nitrogen. Result: frigidly cold White Russian ice cream in about 30 seconds. 

Pickled radishes with goat cheese foam Modernist cooking (or modernist cuisine, or molecular gastronomy) has gradually been moving out of the realm of high end restaurants like Ferran Adria's "elBulli" or Grant Achatz's "Alinea" and into the kitchens of passionate amateurs (check out what the guys at Jet City Gastrophysics are doing) or science-minded home cooks.  The publication of Nathan Myhrvold's epic tome, Modernist Cuisine   last March stirred up a firestorm of interest in manipulating food using scientific techniques like centrifuging, and ingredients such as hydrocolloids and emulsifiers.  These self-described modernist techniques allow us to reexamine how we prepare food, whether it is by finding a way to cook the perfect burger (you'll want 30 hours and a vacuum sealer) or by creating a platform that captures the absolute flavor and essence of an ingredient. These techniques also promote a sense of playfulness, encouraging ...

(Is that a fractal I see?) Cauliflower, I think, was for a long time an underrated vegetable.  It's to be expected, I suppose, when your entire existence pretty much revolves around being placed on a raw credite platter to balance out all those other colors.  I'm fairly confident that the only time I saw cauliflower in my house growing up was when it was slowly oxidizing on a vegetable plate with a bowl of Ranch dressing. In the last few years, however, it seems like cauliflower is experiencing a sort of Renaissance. Elevated from its raw and odiferous existence by a good roast or a hot sear in a pan, cauliflower becomes tender and sweetly nuanced.  "Rediscovery" might be a strong word, but it definitely seems to be experiencing an increase in popularity: Michael Ruhlman is roasting whole heads  of it and basting it with brown butter, it's showing up in "steak" form as a vegetarian main dish, back in 2010, Michael Symon engaged in a cauliflower...

It's Super Bowl weekend, and maybe you care profoundly about the outcome, and maybe you don't. But regardless, someone you know is probably having a party as an excuse to eat a bunch of ridiculous food and check out some commercials that you've probably already seen online. If you're expected to bring something to a party this weekend (or hell, any party, ever), you should probably bring pimento cheese.  Those of you from the South are probably familiar with pimento cheese, a spread/dip of shredded cheddar cheese, mayo, and chopped, roasted red peppers. And chances are, if your mom/aunt/grandma made it, you have very strong feelings about how it should taste. If you're from Yankee territory, you might have heard of it via any of of the articles / magazines declaring Southern food last year's (and probably still this year's) big "thing." Maybe you're intrigued, maybe you're grossed out. You should be the former. True, this is a d...

It's the first of February, but yesterday it was fifty-some degrees and sunny.  With weather that nice in mid-winter, in Ohio, there's only one thing to do: fire up the grill.  My freezer had a complete dearth of grillable items, however, but thankfully,  The Greener Grocer at the North Market has this great thing called the Weekly Fresh Market Bag .  It's essentially a mini-CSA, and they offer a summer and winter season, with seasonal, if not local produce, grains, and cheeses.  I don't have a WFMB myself, but am lucky enough to have a boyfriend that does, and is willing to share. Since this week's bag had (among other things) kale, shiitake mushrooms, and fingerling potatoes in it, we decided to throw an impromptu grilled, winter veggie pizza party. Topped with a variety of cheeses pulled out of my fridge (fontina, goat, and Parmesan) and infused with the smoke from a super-hot grill, it made for a delightful taste of winter with the slightest hint of...