Egg, Water, Flour

I've finally completed my most recent Schmo to Pro task: learning to make killer fresh pasta from big-name NYC pasta pros Michael White, Fabio Trabocchi and Missy Robbins. A good time was had by me, if not all.

Check it!

Thursday Meat Art

A little Thursday meat art a la Jean Yves Lemoigne.

(thanks to Young William)

Talking Turkey

My friend and Thanksgiving guest David caught my turkey carving madness via digital video. I was so engrossed I didn't even notice he was wielding a camera (if Mandel dies, David would be an excellent replacement host on Howie Do-it). I prepped for this year's turkey by watching ten how-to videos online (the best of which can be found here). And while I wasn't able to achieve the same speed and grace as the pros, I will say the end effect was the prettiest durn bird I ever done carved. Watch me wax poetic about the nuance of turkey preparation here.

Not too big for his britches, per se

DJ Egg, a fan of food and letters, tipped me off to this blog post by a 16 year old kid who dined alone at New York's vaunted Per Se restaurant. While the $300 price tag is a bit too rich for my blood, apparently this punk was able to swing it on some scratch he saved from a summer job. For the rest of you neo-Depressionites without the means to swing a meal there, I highly recommend dipping into Phoebe Damrosch's SERVICE INCLUDED--a memoir about her time as a server at Per Se. While books by top chefs abound, Damrosch's effort is a rare and enlightening look at what the front of the house looks like at a fine dining destination.

Obama Foodorama

Happy New Year all! Thought I'd share a few thoughts on Obama Foodorama, LA blogger Eddie Gehman Kohan's site that captures food-related news about our president-elect.

This morning I finally got around to reading Michael Pollan's piece in the NY Times magazine. It's worth the read, but if you're short on time, Jeremy previously posted the Cliffs Notes. Thanks Cease! The article led me on a search for related content. Enter Obama Foodorama. I'll admit that global warming aside, I hadn't thought much about Obama's position on food in comparison to his stance on other issues (like global friendliness). But yeah...this is so fascinating and necessary when you think about how food affects pretty much everything we do.

Obama Foodorama blends news with fluff (e.g. Michelle Obama is a fan of Paula Deen. Yes!) and the the occasional examination of policy. I'm hoping that as Obama transitions into office, the blog will continue the fun while increasing a focus on the desire for massive (gasp!) political change. Surely I'm not the only one wanting to see a victory garden planted on the carefully tended White House grounds.

Great hunks of meat

The Feedbag Makes Gyros at BZGrill from The Feedbag on Vimeo.

I've always wondered what a shawarma looks like before it's a shawarma. Now I know.

Nice Balls

Success! Taking a sick day, playing the metal channel, and using a recipe graciously provided by the Cease (thanks for the pity), I was finally able to perform dairy alchemy, although the results were far from perfect. My mozz was lacking in stretchiness, possibly resulting from not bringing the whey up to temperature (which kept the curds somewhat brittle), but for now, I'll take it. The flavor is most certainly mozzarella, and I am most certainly a believer in the third time being the charm. Good luck in your own personal cheese misadventures.