I’ve been cooking at altitude (4500 ft above sea level and above) for my whole life with a couple of brief exceptions, and it’s a lot simpler than cookbooks make it seem if you understand two basic principles: After all my bragging about simplifying things, I do have to point out three exceptions to theContinue reading “Cooking and Baking at Altitude”
Category Archives: blackbird
Gotgam-danji (Korean stuffed dried persimmons)
Not something I would ordinarily go out of my way to make, but Maangchi happened to run the recipe right when I was in the middle of drying persimmons this winter and right after I had made a jar of yuzu marmalade with the 1 yuzu I got from my new tree. So, once theContinue reading “Gotgam-danji (Korean stuffed dried persimmons)”
Letter of Recommendation: Burnt Sugar Meringues
These are fantastic. You can order them here.
ESC #12: Brunch Edition
Well, I didn’t save the menus, and I didn’t take any pictures: that shows you how hard it is to teach a Gen X blogger Gen Z tricks…. But brunch was great! It had a Southern/Caribbean vibe. The centerpiece were these Biscuits with Pancetta, Collards, Marbleized Eggs, and Espresso Aioli that sound way cheffier thanContinue reading “ESC #12: Brunch Edition”
ESC#11: Shellfish Edition
This one truly went to 11 (to quote Spinal Tap). I was in Sacramento visiting friends and having a wonderful dinner at Localis–more on that trip this weekend–and I knew this was my chance to pick up some fresh seafood I couldn’t get in my home town. So, I packed a cooler with me inContinue reading “ESC#11: Shellfish Edition”
Mocktails in Space!
My friend Brooke had her birthday party at our local Planetarium, and as they don’t allow alcohol, she wondered if I could whip up a couple of space-themed mocktails for the event. Challenge accepted. I got out the old specific-gravity tables, ordered up some butterfly pea flower tea, and got mixin’. Of course, either ofContinue reading “Mocktails in Space!”
ESC #10: Valentine’s Edition
You just can’t beat Italian for Valentine’s Day. The Sunday Gravy was phenomenal—none of us could believe that so much flavor came out of so few ingredients (basically a couple of kinds of meat, garlic, and Italian herbs added to tomato purée). The semolina gnocchi (aka Roman gnocchi) were really interesting—kind of like rustic gougères.Continue reading “ESC #10: Valentine’s Edition”
Japanese Whole Wheat Milk Bread: Attempt #3
This one’s the ticket: it didn’t make the most beautiful loaf ever, but that’s on me. And despite the operator error, the texture and flavor were spot on. I reduced the wheat flour in this recipe to 50% (because honestly, if you’re going to add barley malt and wheat gluten to your whole wheat toContinue reading “Japanese Whole Wheat Milk Bread: Attempt #3”
ESC #9: Burns Night
So in case you don’t happen to be Scottish (or partly so), I’ll bring you up to speed: the poet Robert Burns’s birthday is January 25th and is usually celebrated among Scots with the eating of haggis (if you don’t know what all that ent[r]ails, it’s probably best not to Google it) and the drinkingContinue reading “ESC #9: Burns Night”
Letter of Recommendation: Lard
Look, I’m not even going to try to argue that lard has been misunderstood and is somehow good for you…. This is quite obviously not true. But! I do think that, in the first place, it’s no worse for you than any other fat that’s solid at room temperature (provided you eat meat in theContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Lard”
The Rookery 