Friday Cocktail Hour: Eggnog

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 14, 2012

 

Cooked eggnog: a true holiday treat. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman.

I'm so pleased with results of the cooked eggnog I wrote about long ago, I wanted to repost an official tested recipe. I'm a fan of raw-egg eggnog, as well as aged-for-two-years raw eggnog. I don't believe anyone should be afraid of eating raw eggs (especially if you buy organic or well-raised eggs). Raw yolk on raw ground beef is a delight, a kind of ready-made sauce. I love a homemade mayo, a runny poached egg. Indeed, raw or warm egg is one of the great pleasures of cooking and eating. But there are those who may be concerned or have reason not to take any chances. There are also those who may simply love the richness of the cooked egg and the clean flavor the vanilla ...

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Posted in Cocktails, Eggs, Holiday, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Schmaltz! My New Cookbook for iPads

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 12, 2012

The Book of Schmaltz: A Single-Subject Cookbook for iPads

A year ago, my neighbor, Lois Baron, said she had to leave a party early to make schmaltz, as the High Holy days of the Jewish year approached and she was the cook in the family. Long having wanted to explore this oft-maligned fat, I asked for Lois's help in understanding its history and use. (Almost everyone refers to it as "heart attack food," but it's not. It's good for you! In moderation. Lois is in her 70s and cooks like a banshee, her husband Russell is in his 80s and still practices law, and Lois's mom cooked schmaltz well into her 90s, though she wouldn't admit it.) Schmaltz, rendered chicken fat flavored with onion, was such an odd topic, and so focused, it didn't seem like a ...

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Posted in Beef, Books, Braise, Chicken, From Scratch, Jewish Cuisine, Recipes, ruhlman products, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

Guest Post:
Cinnamon Bread from The Culinary Life

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 10, 2012

 

Freshly baked cinnamon bread is a great baking item to add to the holidays.
Photo by Stephanie J. Stiavetti

I'm giving my site over today to my friend Stephanie Stiavetti, who writes The Culinary Life blog, and whose first book, Melt, will be published next year by Little, Brown. Here she focuses on cinnamon at a time of the year when the smell of cinnamon announces the celebratory nature of the month and soothes stress. It's true, the smell of cinnamon bread baking makes for a better mood around the house. A note about yeast and temperatures—many novice bakers get in a fluff about it. Fresh? Active dry? Instant dry? What's it all mean? I'm not going to go into it because it's boring—use dry, it doesn't matter what kind (I recommend Red Star or SAF, same ...

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Posted in baking, Bread, From Scratch, Guest Post, Recipes, Seasonings and Spices | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Friday Cocktail Hour: Scamper Juice

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 7, 2012

Crashy Zacher's Scamper Juice: punch, the shared libation, the communal drink.
Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman.

Holiday punch was out of fashion even in Charles Dickens' day, but he loved the old recipes for it. And as described in this NPR story with David Wondrich on his book Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl, punch was created by 17th-century British-empire-building sailors whose beer spoiled in tropical heat. They would have used rum and brandy and lots of it for punch with serious punch. Today for me it has a whiff of the 1950s, and does bring to mind sherbet for some reason, but as Wondrich points out in the NPR piece, punch is not a cocktail or pedestrian glass of generic Chardonnay—that is, an individual and isolating libation strategy. It is, rather, a ...

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Posted in beverages, Cocktails, Holiday | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Winner Winner! Twenty, SousVide Supreme,
and Cocktail Name

By Michael Ruhlman | Published: December 5, 2012

 

Introducing the "Major Award."/Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman.

Cocktail Name Winner "Major Award," from Stefan Was, of Cleveland, OH This was chosen from many, many wonderful names, by Paulius and Claudia, and I whole-heartedly embrace this great and elegant name, in its saying Cleveland without using Cleveland, its nuanced suggestion of Christmas and fun without saying either. Poetry! "Major Award" is a reference, of course, to one of my favorite movies, "A Christmas Story," which opens in Cleveland's Public Square. Donna and I never see a box with "Fragile" written on it without saying aloud, "Fra-GEE-lay." Darren McGavin's major award was of course, the famous leg lamp. Stop by Paulius's Velvet Tango Room, and you'll see the lamp in an upstairs window. Stefan, Paulius says come on in and you'll have a Major ...

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Posted in Giveaway | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

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