Sweet and Sour Rabbit
A few weeks ago, I had lunch with Mark DesLauriers from Artepicure and his wife Daniela. Mark is starting to teach cooking classes after retiring from a long career in the restaurant business. I was looking for chef instructors for Helen's Kitchen to help me meet the growing demand. It looked like a very promising collaboration, and Mark invited me to his place to show me his kitchen and his

To cook or not to cook (roux vs. beurre manié)
The difference between roux and beurre manié has bothered me for years. Both consist of 1 part flour to 1 part butter. Both are used to thicken liquids. But roux is cooked in a pan for a few minutes over relatively low heat while whisking and beurre manié is mashed in a bowl with a fork until it forms a smooth paste (you need butter at room temperature for that). Making roux is one of those

Vegetable Sauces
Taking a picture of a sauce without a protein is like taking a picture of lingerie without a woman. This roasted red pepper and smoked paprika sauce was actually served with seared bluefish. But at dinner time, the light was terrible, and there was no hope of taking a picture. The next morning, the light was great and there was still a bit of the sauce left, but by then all the bluefish was

Understanding Ricotta, Yogurt, Farmer's Cheese, etc.
Last night I got the most insightful e-mail from Diana at Off the Bone that answered the questions I had about making ricotta, yogurt, farmer's cheese, and other fresh cheese variations. I asked Diana if it would be ok to share her explanation with my readers and she graciously agreed to be my guest blogger.Here is what she wrote...================There are two things that need to happen when

Is home-made ricotta worth making?
Last week, I did something most food bloggers have done years ago -- I made my own ricotta. To tell you the truth, it wasn't ricotta I was after. What I really wanted to make was Russian farmer's cheese. But many of my Russian friends who have tried it said it was really hard to get supermarket milk to curdle. It could take as long as a few days at room temperature which sounded a bit