This is the cake of Carol’s childhood, which we most recently made for a memorial service for her brother Peter. Mayonnaise may sound like a strange ingredient for a cake until you realize that the two main ingredients of mayonnaise, oil and eggs, are standard cake ingredients. This cake tastes better the day after it Read More …
For Thanksgiving this year, I smoked a 16 lb. turkey in my Big Green Egg and it turned out very well. The day before Thanksgiving I spatchcocked it, and used the backbone and neck to make turkey stock for Easy Poultry Gravy. I then marinated the turkey in a 2.5 gallon ziplock baggie with 1.5 Read More …
This variation on pecan pie comes from Dorie Greenspan. The dough for the crust came from a half recipe of Flaky Pie Crust . It is less sweet than Cane Sugar Pecan Pie . 9 inch pie crust ¾ cup maple syrup ½ cup packed brown sugar 3 large eggs at room temperature 1.5 tsp. Read More …
A few weeks ago I spotted a recipe on America’s Test Kitchen for “Best Crab Cakes”. The key idea of this recipe was to use a shrimp mousse (ground shrimp and cream) to bind together the crab cakes instead of bread crumbs, mayonnaise or eggs. I thought this worked very well, but Carol objected to Read More …
Jambalaya is a Cajun rice dish. This version is adapted from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen and is made from ingredients which any Cajun household would have on hand. The one hard to find ingredient for non-Cajuns is Tasso which is a spiced ham. (The link is to my recipe for it. Ordinary ham can Read More …
This recipe makes a half-sheet (13 x 18 inches) cake which is about 1 inch thick, like a brownie. It will serve a large crowd. We served it the first night at the beach to 5 adults and 2 children, and even serving very large pieces, we still had about half of the cake left. Read More …
I spotted a recipe on epicurious.com which was celebrated because a special technique (sprinkling the top with sugar and then with hot water) created a crackly crust. I cut the recipe down for 2 people and made it using some of the peaches now in season. It did turn out very well. A 6-inch diameter Read More …
The pork tenderloin was brined before grilling, which helped keep it moist and flavorful. It was then accompanied by a peppercorn gravy, which I think should have been thicker. (Something to work on next time.) This is adapted from Pure Pork Awesomeness by Kevin Gillespie. ¼ cup packed brown sugar ¼ cup kosher salt 4 Read More …
Otis P. Boyd was a prominent black barbeque man in Kansas City. This mixture can be used formed into patties as a breakfast sausage or formed into links and smoked. Note that it does not contain any curing salt. I made a small batch based on 1 lb. of 73% lean ground beef and 1 Read More …
Last weekend, Carol went strawberry picking and suggested I turn most of the strawberries into preserves. I am still pretty inexperienced in making preserves, and this turned into more of a learning experience than I had expected. In any event, the final product was good, and I will incorporate in this post what I learned. Read More …