CHOCOLATE I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for multiple months and have not yet delved into the science of chocolate. This is a serious failing on my part, and I extend my deepest apologies. And I’m going to remedy it….
Bonding: let’s get together, yeah yeah yeah The more I read about food science, the clearer it becomes that protein interactions determine the fate of everything from simple scrambled eggs to the most delicate cake. And protein interactions are governed…
Of pumpkins and pectin My lovely cousin had the audacity to get married to a great guy, host a rocking party, and gather most of my awesome family together—on Halloween weekend. (Britt: I’d take your wedding over Halloween any day….
Eggs: the basics Harold McGee’s chapter on eggs (to which I’ve been glued the past few days because holy cow, eggs are amazing) begins with this tribute to the humble food: “An egg is the sun’s light refracted into life”…
Glorious Gluten Flour is kind of glorious: the basis of everything from delicate pastries to hearty breads, it has as many applications as the imagination can conceive. When mixed with water, it changes from an unremarkable white powder into a…
Beans, beans, the magical fruit We all know the song, but our dear friend Harold McGee puts it slightly more tactfully: “Several chemical constituents of beans are responsible for an uncomfortable, sometimes embarrassing consequence of eating legumes: the generation of…
Worth the wait Roasting is my go-to cooking method. If I don’t really know what to do with whatever ingredients I have on hand, I chop them up and throw them in the oven with a little oil and salt….
Ganache-ing their terrible teeth I love birthdays. They are an excellent excuse to make extravagant cakes, which I love to do and would probably do more often if people didn’t seem to find it extremely strange when the occasion for…
Feeling curdley? My sister’s in town, and we both love cornbread an absurd amount. Unfortunately, even we can’t convince ourselves that cornbread on its own is a balanced, full meal–but if you put a bunch of vegetables and beans underneath,…
Caramelization: making sugar even more delicious The farmers markets are full to bursting with tomatoes of all kinds, the squashy-looking heirlooms and juicy red beefsteak and tempting yellow something-or-other. But since the big guys require a cutting process that never…
