Coffee

I can't do without coffee, I can't.  I get up in the morning, go to the bathroom, wash my face, and then get started on the coffee.  Which means that a mere 15-20 minutes after I wake up, I have a cup of coffee in hand.

But I can't say that I chase the good stuff.  I've had outstanding coffee: Ninth Street Espresso, Blue Bottle Coffee at the Ferry Building, Philz Coffee (my favorite ever).  I know it's good and I appreciate it's good. Ultimately, though, when it comes down to it, I buy Starbuck's and pretty much subsist on that.  It's easy, it's accessible.

Adam was just on a business trip in the Bay Area and came back with a bag of Blue Bottle:

The difference between this bag and my usual Starbuck's was marked.  Which won't be a surprise to you coffee aficionados.  But it has certainly inspired me to make more of an effort to get the good stuff. I mean, I live in NYC, for heaven's sake.  It shouldn't be that hard.

I insist on quality in so much that I put in my body - why not coffee?

What about you, fellow coffee drinkers?  What do you drink?  How do you brew it?

Eat, drink, and seek out quality.




For more about coffee, check out these links:

• My good friend, Amy: she calls herself a "coffee snob" but she's more like a coffee evangelist, spreading the Good Word to as many people who will hear her.
• Ashley at Not Without Salt has written loads about coffee: roasting your own beans, flavoring coffee, coffee pudding (which Martha's Circle and the gorgeous Kinfolk Magazine linked to!), and coffee tasting.
• The Amateur Gourmet couldn't say enough good things about Joe: The Art of Coffee when he was living in NYC. As it turns out, there's an outpost rather close to my apartment - I'll visit there ASAP!
• The Paupered Chef has a great tutorial on brewing the perfect cup.

Compost Cookies & some thoughts on baking paraphenalia

The time has come: I'm well aware of my shortcomings...but now Bug has gotten old enough that she can call me out on my faults too. Friday was a snow day in NYC and I decided to try Compost Cookies, which I heard about from Amateur Gourmet. When I told Bug about my intention to bake cookies, she said (verbatim): "Mommy, you can be my sous chef because you can't bake and I can."

Oh, dear. My reputation had preceded me.

So, playing sous chef, I did most of the baking of the Compost Cookies. Like Adam (Amateur Gourmet) said, you can omit the corn syrup from the recipe - it was fine without them. But I did have some problems, as evidenced below:

Can you tell? They were flat as pancakes and I have no idea why. Adam (my husband, not Amateur Gourmet) thought that it was because I was using older baking soda. Do you bakers out there concur? Where did I go wrong?

But, daaaaaamn. The flatness aside, these are incredible and MY kind of dessert. Bug and I added crushed pretzels, crushed potato chips, dark chocolate chips, coconut, and some leftover sprinkles from an earlier baking project. Oh, and we also added about a tablespoon of peanut butter chips I found at the back of the cabinet that hadn't gone bad yet. Really, the sky's the limit. You could throw in oatmeal, raisinettes, nuts...anything! But what creates magic is the interplay of sweet and salty. It's dessert gold, guys. Gold.

I'm going to be a lazy blogger (oh, shhh, you love it and you know it!) and only link to the recipe. Here it is, courtesy...of all things...Live with Regis and Kelly. Lordy.

And here's one more thing before I close this out: STAND MIXER. I've never owned one and never felt like I needed to. When the Soul Twin become a full-blown veterinary cardiologist (for real!), she told me she was going to buy me a stand mixer. She swore that the only reason I wasn't a baker was because I didn't have one. Yes, I rolled my eyes at her. Then I said, "Where the hell would I fit a stand mixer in this kitchen?!?!" She looked around and said that she saw my point. Crappy NYC kitchens.

BUT...this recipe made me rethink my stance. I used my hand mixer. And you'll see from the recipe that you need to use your stand mixer for TEN MINUTES. My arm nearly FELL OFF. Not to mention that my batter failed to double in size like the recipe said. Hey, maybe that's why my cookies were so flat... Hell, this is exactly why I loathe baking. Why is it so complicated?!

Nevertheless, I'm kinda eyeing this pretty baby now (I adore the retro red with the glass bowl!):

If the baking doesn't pan out, I can use this for sausage and pasta! Now THAT is what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis!

Eat, drink, and keep trying...I guess.

On the Menu

I just wrote two blog posts and realized I could write 10 more about all the great food I've been cooking and eating lately. Which I can't do, of course, because I need to fix lunch, plus I have a kid here who is dying to play some Clue (which is awesome, except that she always wants to be Miss Scarlet and I'm stuck being Peacock. Boo.). So here is a round-up of the food in my life lately with links to the recipes:

Saumon l'Unilaterale from French Women Don't Get Fat (remember I said recently I was getting back to my French inspiration? This was part of that pleasurable goal.)

Calamari from Giada de Laurentiis' Everyday Italian (pair it with Victory Brewery Company's Golden Monkey)

Warming Winter Pasta with Gorgonzola, Walnuts, Spinach, and Single Malt from thepassionatecook (I used Google for all the measurement conversions)

Bangers and Mash (part of our anti-Valentine's Day celebration. Drank lots of English brown ales with this and watched Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes)

Dumplings from Amateur Gourmet (good but not great. I'm going to try frying them next time and adding some spicy heat to the pork mixture. Additionally, I tried his flour-and-water concoction and it went horribly. Would it kill him to include any sort of measurements?!)Eat, drink, and look forward to each new food experience!

Links à deux

Rarely do I care that I don't bake. I just don't have a sweet tooth so I'm never motivated to go through the effort. People often ask me how I can have "only one" square of chocolate after my lunch: "You can stop at only one?!" Why, yes. Yes, I can.

What no one comments on is how I manage to scarf down an entire plate of nachos by myself. I exercise little to no restraint for nachos. I make room because I love all things crunchy, salty, and cilantro-y. On nacho nights, I consciously eat light the entire day because I know I'm going to go the distance for dinner. That's just me. Desserts? Meh. Chips? Awwww yeah, baby.

Anyway...every once in awhile, someone makes me wish I baked. Usually when they bake something savory. I give you Simmer Till Done's Upside-Down Tomato Basil Bread. Holy crap. I want it and I want it now. And Marilyn gives fantastic instructions in case things aren't looking right - she's making baking sound do-able...even for me. However, the very idea of cranking my oven up to 400 degrees for more than an hour is unthinkable right now, my un-air-conditioned kitchen being the gateway to hell in the summertime. But for all you people lucky enough to cook in air-conditioned bliss, you're welcome.

The other link I offer you is Amateur Gourmet's review of Julie & Julia. He said it perfectly and he convinced me that having the juxtaposition between Julie Powell and Julia Child not only worked but was necessary to the movie. And I teared up a bit when he mentioned the movie being about connections: Julia and Paul, Julie and Eric, Julia and her collaborators, Julie and her friends...on and on. I was already feeling so glowy and happy about the movie, and now I love it even more.

Eat, drink, and make Upside-Down Tomato Basil Bread so I can live vicariously through you!

You know the drill...

This is where I lead you to Citrus-Glazed Polenta Cake, posted by Amateur Gourmet, and then remind you that I loathe baking because I'm very bad at it. But I still want all of you to make it and, if you feel so inspired, you can give some to me.

Again, you're welcome. Enjoy!

Tweens read...kinda

YPulse has the results of a recent poll they took re: tweens and reading. Surprise! They actually do read, according to the results. However, as YPulse does point out, the group is self-selecting and it skews toward younger and mostly female...so we can't really call this a trend or point to it, claiming, "See! See! They do read! We knew it all along!" That said, I love that those kids that read are passionate readers - kids excited about reading always makes me happy. Thanks to Stacy over at Tweendom for the link.

Serendipitously, there was a link above the tweens-and-reading piece to an article about Food Network reaching out to the Gen-Y kids with their new Food2 website, which I actually first heard mention of over at Amateur Gourmet (Adam has his own show on the new site). When I heard about it there, I shrugged it off...being a Gen-X-er myself... Apparently, Food2 is going for the hipper, younger crowd with more face-off competitions, eating fast and cheaper, and "off-beat personalities". I like "Ace of Cakes" as much as the next person...in fact, I love it. But I also love Mario Batali and some of the "original" stars of the Food Network. Why must it be one or the other?

Internet Update: Time Warner told Adam they'd be out this Saturday...at the earliest. By the time they fix this thing I will have shriveled up and withered away, thus resembling those "poor unfortunate souls" in Ursula's "garden" in The Little Mermaid.

Eat, drink, and keep drinking until Time Warner fixes this f-up!

Diner food is sometimes the best way to go

I've been longing to eat at The Loeb Boathouse ever since I moved to New York (thanks to When Harry Met Sally)...so we're going on two years now that I've dreamed but have not achieved.

Amateur Gourmet has made me seriously reconsider ever going there.  I'll stick to my Georgia Peach for brunch, thank you very much.

Eat, drink, and stay away from tourist destinations.

My Last 12 Hours in NYC

Adam over at Amateur Gourmet started this: what would you do in your last 12 hours of whatever city you’re living in?  In his case, he posted about his last 12 hours in NYC if he had to leave it and never come back.  Clotilde posted about her last 12 hours in Paris.  While the very idea of leaving NYC and never coming back fills me with sadness, I still think this is a fun way to appreciate the place you live.  So here are my last 12 hours in NYC:

9:00 a.m. Coffee and a lemon poppy seed muffin at Guy & Gallard, the one on Lexington and 34^th.  It’s certainly not the best place in the city by any means, but it has enormous sentimental value for me – Adam and I went there on our very first trip to NYC and believed it to be quintessentially New York.  Now I understand that isn’t necessarily the case…but still…

10:00 a.m.  Because in my version I have an endless capacity to eat and enjoy, I would head over to Chelsea Market and grab an Americano at Ninth Street…now that is real coffee.  Then I’ll take my coffee into 202 for breakfast (where the wait staff always makes you pour it into one of their coffee cups so you’re not advertising someone else’s coffee in their restaurant).  I’ll order their French toast with bacon and syrup…some of the best I’ve had.  I’ll spend some time after breakfast browsing the ridiculously beautiful, expensive clothes.  Before I leave that neighborhood, I’ll stock up on some cupcakes at Billy’s Bakery to have with my lunch.

11:30 a.m.  After walking all the way down to the NYU area, I’ll be prepared to try on some clothes.  My last 12 hours would not be complete (for me, anyway) without a stop to Purdy Girl, one of my favorite clothing boutiques in the city.  While in that neighborhood, I’ll collect the fixings for a picnic lunch: a stop at Murray’s Cheese and Amy’s Bread.  Some olive oil at O & Co.  I’ll bypass Magnolia (you would be wise to do so as well) since I stocked up on Billy’s earlier (the only cupcakes worth having).  I don’t have a favorite wine shop in that part of the city so I’ll just pop into any old place and get a pinot noir (of course!) to have with lunch.

1:00 p.m.  Picnic in Central Park, one of my favorite things to do ever, in any city.  I like to position myself near a walking path so I can people-watch while I nibble and sip.  And lots of the musicians set up near the paths – last time I picnicked in the Park, there was a young woman playing the violin beautifully while we dined.  There really isn’t anything more perfect in the world, I think.

3:00 p.m.  Strolling through the park until dinner.  Bethesda Fountain, the Mall, Sheep’s Meadow.  I’d walk and enjoy all my favorite places.

4:00 p.m. Before dinner I’d head to Ginger Man, my favorite place in the city to have a beer (or two).  I’d have the Franziskaner Hefe, like I always do, along with their stellar soft pretzel accompanied with spicy honey mustard. 

5:00 p.m. Four hours left!  This is a tough one: do I pick a restaurant I’ve been dying to go to but have never been?  Or a tried-and-true?  I think I’d have to go to either Union Square Café or Gramercy Tavern – I’ve never been to either, and I don’t know if I could feel complete leaving the city without at least eating at one of them.  So I think I’d pick Union Square Café because Ina Garten says in one of her cookbooks that it’s her favorite restaurant in the city…and we all know she has impeccable taste.

8:00 p.m. Post-dinner drinks at The Campbell Apartment.  Naturally, I’d walk through Grand Central to get there, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.  I’d have their Prohibition Punch – it’s wicked….and so delicious.

9:00 p.m. I’d leave the city via the ferry so that I could get one last look at one of, if not the, most famous skylines in the world.  And oh, how I would cry!

Eat, drink, and love where you live

Note: I picked up the picture from Google images (www.nyctrip.com, according to Google)

Yet another playlist to add to my iPod...

Adam Roberts (a.k.a Amateur Gourmet) has either worked magic to create a 36-hour day for himself...or he just doesn't sleep. In addition to Amateur Gourmet and making videos over at Food Network, he has now started Food Songs with his friend Dan. It's exactly what it sounds like: a blog about songs involving food. Apparently there are enough songs to create an entire blog...

Top 10 Cooking Books

I’ve run across a few Top 10 Cookbook Lists lately, namely over at The Amateur Gourmet and this article in The Star. I had heard of most of them and own quite a few; luckily, there were none that I took real issue with. Adam (The Amateur Gourmet, not my husband) mentions The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook “not to cook from, just to have.” I see what he’s saying – there are definitely books I keep around because they’re beautiful but I don’t really use them. However, I certainly wouldn’t put those books in my Top10.

So you see what’s coming, right? Yep, I have to do a Top 10 of my own. These are the 10 Books I Could Not Live Without in my Crappy NYC Kitchen:

1. Barefoot Contessa (all of them) – Ina Garten. I have all but Parties! and I use them multiple times a week. Most recipes are manageable for the novice cook. Note: her recipes aren’t terribly friendly for the one- to two-person family; her serving size is usually for 6-8 people, which always makes for a ton of leftovers for our 3-person family.

2. Field Guide to Produce: How to Identify, Select, and Prepare Virtually Every Fruit and Vegetable at the Market by Aliza Green. Truly, I couldn’t live without this. It tells you the origin of every fruit and vegetable, including when it is in season, how to store it, what to look for when buying, and complementary flavors. Amazon has the Look Inside feature on this one so you can browse through it.

3. Patricia Wells’ Trattoria by Patricia Wells. Tough call because I love her Vegetable Heaven as well, but Trattoria is still my go-to book for simple, fresh, easy recipes. No beautiful pictures in this one…just beautiful food.

4. The French Market: More Recipes from a French Kitchen by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde. Classic French food without being pedantic or clichéd. Beautiful color photos of France.

5. The New Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. Another resource I can’t live without. Especially when my daughter asks me, every meal, which foods contain vitamin C – I’ve looked up apples, mushrooms, and many more… Also gives brief histories and discusses different varieties and preparations.

6. Timing is Everything: The Complete Timing Guide to Cooking by Jack Piccolo. I don’t live and die by the times listed in this book; however, when I have dealt with an unfamiliar cut of meat or a new vegetable, this book has been invaluable at giving me a cooking guideline.

7. What to Drink with What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. As I mentioned before, the definitive guide.

8. Cooking with Jamie and Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver. I’m hooked. Some recipes are super-simple (Fifteen Christmas Salad) and some appear to be so difficult that I can’t attempt them until I have a proper kitchen. A little something for everyone…

9. Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis. I know, total cliché, right? Nevertheless, her recipes are a godsend for a full-time working parent. They’re easy to make with easy-to-find ingredients, not to mention that it actually includes recipes my Kiddo will eat (yay, pasta!). For better or worse, this continues to be one of my go-to cookbooks.

10. I know not technically cookbooks, but I could not live without Saveur, Gourmet, Food and Wine, Cooking Light, and Bon Appétit. I tear out the recipes and keep them in a notebook, which I wrote about here. If you can’t afford subscriptions to all these, your local library should have most, if not all, of them (and they all have lots of content on their websites). But for heavens’ sake, PHOTOCOPY the recipes! Do NOT rip out the pages of the library’s copy. Sheesh, people.

Note: I just checked out Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes from the library and, from my first glimpse through it, I think this could be a new favorite. Cream Puffs in Venice reviewed it.

Eat, drink, and cultivate your food library.

Extra! Extra! Children's Librarian Leads Discussion on Adult Books!

Once again, my job and food somehow end up intersecting. Every week, my division (Collection Development) has a meeting to try to keep our act together (or get our act together, depending on who you ask). I’m the only “kiddie lit” person there; otherwise, it’s the coordinator, the manager, and the two adult selectors. Our YA selector, just to keep things interesting, is in an entirely differently department. The result of all this is that I sit through a 2-hour meeting every week that has very little to do with children’s literature.

But – hark! – last week the “adult people” started planning their next genre workshop. They pick a topic (past topics have been graphic novels, literary fiction, and narrative nonfiction), limit the attendance to 15 people, and have a discussion about the characteristics of that genre. They ask everyone who attends to read at least one book from the genre beforehand. Some people participate because they either 1) know nothing about the genre and want to learn more, or 2) are passionate about the genre and want to meet others who feel the same. So the adult people were planning the next workshop and looking for topics. I couldn’t resist: I piped up, “What about foodie books?” I fully expected derisive eye-rolling because 1) I’m a “kiddie lit” person, 2) I’ve never even been to one of their genre workshops, and 3) everyone is so sick of me talking about food all the time. But no! I got nods and smiles and warm rays of light coming from the adult people. So I continued: “Not just cookbooks, because that’s a genre in and of itself. But I’m talking about books like Omnivore’s Dilemma, Alice Waters and Chez Panisse…books like that. Biographies, travelogues that center around food, tell-alls from the restaurant world.” So H. says, “That’s a great idea. Who wants to lead it?” Before I could clamp my big ol’ mouth shut, I squeak excitedly, “Me!”

So here I am. As if I didn’t have enough to do. But the truth is, I’m completely excited. I have a brief opportunity to expand my daily job to include children’s books and foodie books. It’s a rare opportunity so I fully intend on having fun and running with it. Naturally, I already have titles spinning around in my head:

Books I’ve Read –

- The Amateur Gourmet: How to Shop, Chop, and Table Hop Like a Pro by Adam Roberts
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
- Don't Try This at Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefs by Kimberly Witherspoon

- French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano (the book responsible for this journey I'm on)
- From Here You Can’t See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and its Restaurant by Michael S. Sanders (my review)
- Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
- Heirloom: Notes of an American Tomato Farmer by Tim Stark
- Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
- Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
- Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
- The Perfect Egg and Other Secrets by Aldo Buzzi

Books On My To-Read List:

- Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life by Mimi Sheraton
- Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen by Laurie Colwin
- In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan
- Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Food by Herve This
- Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children by Ann Cooper
- Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor by Herve This
- My Life in France by Julia Child
- An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David
- Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch
- We’ve Always Had Paris…and Provence by Patricia Wells

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg – there are about 10 books more on my to-read list that I didn’t even note here. Anyone have anything else for me to add to my booklist? Remember, it’s for posterity. I plan on bringing a big list to the workshop.

Eat, drink, and read whenever you’re not cooking

Hitching my wagon to a star

I want to be Adam Roberts...or work at the Food Network. Is that too much to ask?!

(And I want to try out that chestnut, ricotta, and balsamic dish that David Mechlowicz, the "culinary purchasing manager", is preparing)

First Spring Visit to Union Square

Guess who went to the Union Square Greenmarket this morning! Yep, ME! I haven’t been in months – I hate to admit that I’m a fair-weather market-goer. But I was glad I waited because, instead of the sparse winter offerings, I was greeted by flowers and purveyors galore. Which naturally also meant people galore. I don’t know what it was about today, but there seemed to be very few accent-less Americans there – I heard lots of French, lots of Brits, lots of Swedes and Germans. Where did all the Americans go? That’s right – I heard quite a few of them saying they were going to Trader Joe’s a few blocks away. ACK! Why go to Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods when you have everything right here?! Bread, fruit, eggs, meat, jams, honey, syrup, cheese, flowers, herbs. Is there anything else? Curse corporate America for setting up so close to the market!

Please indulge my amateur photography…

The first hydrangeas of the season! Swoon!

Potatoes a-plenty...the fruits of late-spring and summer will have to wait a bit longer. Months ago, my mom-in-law, Adam, and I actually bought several different varieties of the potatoes and did a taste test. Not surprisingly, the delicate fingerling was our favorite.

I'm over parsnips - I've had way too many this winter. But I was happy to see Jerusalem artichokes. See, I have lots of recipes that call for them...but up until today I had no idea what these looked like uncooked and no idea where to find them. So I bagged a half-dozen of them and I'll experiment.

These guys are the best: Elk Trails Ranch. They carry beef and bison products, including doggie treats and jerky. The guys are super-friendly (which, surprisingly, isn't always the case at certain market stalls) and they'll answer your questions. Today I wanted to change up from the usual bison sirloin and flatirons I normally buy. So I bought a "delmonico", which I was told is akin to a beef ribeye. Can't wait to try it!



















In addition to the bison ribeyes, I also stopped by Flying Pigs Farm's stand. Based on the Amateur Gourmet's recommendation, I bought a HUGE pork shoulder and I'm hoping to braise it tomorrow and serve it with my new gratin Dauphinois recipe from My French Kitchen. Not exactly spring-y, I know, but it just sounded so darn gooood. I also bought Apple Sage pork sausage for breakfast tomorrow.



















Here are the rest of my treats: celeriac (again, never tried it, will experiment), eggs, mozzarella, ricotta, a loaf of olive rosemary walnut sourdough (!), Idared apples, Jerusalem artichokes, and cocoa powder-covered chèvre.



















And here was the best lunch ever. The mozzarella was substantial with a melting quality, and the ricotta spread like cream cheese on the olive rosemary walnut bread. Those two other pieces of bread were organic cheese sticks I bought as well - they were a tad on the dry side, but the tang of the cheese struck the perfect tone. The apples were a tad overripe but, given the perfect sweetness, I happily overlooked it. The cocoa chèvre was okay: they mixed the cocoa into the cheese, along with powdered sugar so it was verrrry sweet and dark brown throughout. I might buy some goat cheese and try to make my own with just balls of cheese rolled in cocoa powder. That way you'd get the contrast of the white cheese with the chocolate exterior. And it wouldn't be so sugar-sweet. Nevertheless, can you imagine a more perfect lunch than this on the first weekend of a new season?

Happy spring and bon appètit!

Quack Quack here and a Quack Quack there*

A couple weeks ago – yeah, I know I’m a little late on this – I found this recipe for braised duck legs on one of my favorite food blogs, Amateur Gourmet. I love duck with a passion, and I’m always looking for super simple new recipes. So I was intrigued by this one. It just sounded like the perfect accompaniment to the chilly winter weather: earthy, simple, and colorful.

Amateur Gourmet wasn’t lying – this really is the simplest dang recipe in the world to make. The AG says you need one onion, one stalk of celery, one carrot, and a knob of ginger. It looked like too little to me so I added another carrot and another stalk of celery. Even then, I could have added more veggies – I’m always a fan of more fresh ginger. The point is that this recipe is ideal for improvisation, which is always a plus in my mind. I didn’t have the lemongrass, which wasn’t missed at all, and I also didn’t have “five spice powder.” Instead, I used the “Thai seasoning” I had on hand and that worked brilliantly. You simmer all the vegetables, put the duck on top of them, and into the oven for 2 hours. Done. That simple, really. And WOW it tasted perfect.

The only problem was that I got my worst kitchen burn to date making this one. I used my stainless steel skillet so I could go from stovetop to oven without any problems, and I pulled the skillet out of the oven with my oven mitt and placed it on the stovetop. Then I put the oven mitt back in the drawer. But I’m so used to grabbing pans on the stove that I went to pick up the skillet with my bare hand, lifted it up, and received burning skin in return. Adam sprayed a ton of Bactine anti-burn stuff on my hand, I ran my hand under cold water, and I said every swear word in the book through clenched teeth. And I spent our entire meal with an ice pack on my hand to stop the throbbing. So not fun. But I don’t know – is it completely nuts that I sort of take pride in these moments? Like it’s a battle scar. It means I’m a serious cook because, you know, I’ve sustained injuries. See? Look, how hard-core I am! Yeah, I even got blisters. Rad, right?

And as if this amazing meal wasn’t enough, I was able to skim off all the rendered duck fat and keep it in the fridge for those roasted potatoes I had been dying to make. I roasted some Yukons up, all crispy with their duck fat-infused smokiness…and topped it off with crème fraîche, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme. Yeah, it was just as good as it sounds.

Bon appétit!

* God, I loathe coming up with titles for my blog posts. I'm going to start naming them like Friends episodes, i.e. "The One about French Milk" or the "The One about the Random House Summer 2008 preview."