Gastronome

Thanks to Alton Brown, Iron Chef America can be quite an educational tool. Things learned during Chef Todd English’s pizza dough battle with Iron Chef Mario Batali:

Zatar is a Middle Eastern aromatic spice mixture containing toasted white sesame seeds, ground sumac, thyme and salt. Chef English tossed liberal amounts of zatar and fresh herbs on a rack of lamb he was pan-frying. Between Alton’s description of the herb smell and the stunning shot of the lamb in the pan - I’ve got to try it!

Ramps - aka the Wild Leeks of Appalachia - are a springtime vegetable and a member of the onion family. They apparently have a strong garlic-like aroma. Never heard of these in my life. Again - got to try this!

Pork butts come from the shoulder of a pig, not the rump. Who knew?

Just a quote I ran across that y’all might find amusing:

“If life gives you lemons, why not prepare Smoked Salmon Served on Crisp Cheese Biscuits with Chive and Lemon Cream, followed by Coconut and Lemon Risotto with Mushroom Duxelles and Spinach with a side of Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Butter, and finish with Lemon Pudding Souffle with Champagne Sabayon? At least, that’s what they did on Iron Chef.” — R.M. Weiner

Ending with a bang, a whimper, a near-scorching, and a cornucopia of bread.
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Man cannot live by bread alone, unless perhaps it’s really good bread.
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Three words:

Choc

o

late
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In which our hero does battle with delicate cakes and a fearsome tabletop burner.
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For a Christmas & Birthday present this year, my
sweetie enrolled me in a Baking & Pastry class at the
CIA’s Greystone campus, located in Napa Valley.
Herein is my journal for the week.
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