Free the Shopper

once is never enough

Bought one of these in order to make Mushroom Soup.

So it was easy and, if you can justify that 'it's French so I can get away with using several tons of butter', delicious too!!!! However, as clearly noted in the recipe from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook:

.......carefully blend at high speed until smooth. Do I have to remind you to do this in stages, with the blender's lid firmly held down, and with the weight of your body keeping that thing from flying off and allowing boiling hot mushroom purée to erupt all over your kitchen?

Scene at my house: boiling hot mushroom purée erupting all over kitchen and laptop where the recipe was handily on display...not once....twice, yup twice. If blogging stops blame the soup.

soup's on!

Want to go eat French Onion Soup Dumplings at Stanton Social but that doesn't seem to be on the calendar any time soon....making my own at home and buying these.

Bon Appetit!

moreish

.......is an awesome word, used by Nigella to describe this recipe and totally appropriate. If you want to be the star of your back to school night potluck just make this.....

THE RAINBOW ROOM’S CARROT AND PEANUT SALAD

Ingredients

4 medium carrots, peeled

75g salted peanuts

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons groundnut oil

few drops sesame oil

Serving Size : Serves 1–2, depending on your compulsiveness or generosity.

Grate the carrots very coarsely, push them through the french-fry cutter in the processor, or just cut them into skinny batons. In a bowl, combine them with the peanuts and then add the remaining ingredients. I like to eat this, straight out of the Pyrex pudding basin I mix it in, held up high, under my chin, for ease of eating-action. In fact, the only way I stop eating it is by having someone prise the bowl out of my hands.

from Nigella's Forever Summer

bait and dish

This might be just the excuse you need to get a new (super clean) dishwasher... 

MacGyver Chef blogs at Gizmodo about attempts to cook meals without conventional cooking implements.  The latest attempt is cooking salmon in your dishwasher (really).  We wouldn’t attempt it in our current appliance, but we could use this as bait to get a new one... plus take 90 days to pay.

peachy keen

Blame it on Mad Men or Julia-mania but we are utterly charmed as of late with some old school cooking and entertaining....so it was perfect timing when we found the NYT recipe for Brandied Peaches circa 1951.

ChefsCatalog.com sells these snazzy little canning jars, so all you need to do is strap on that apron!

Set of 6 Leifheit Decrative Canning Jars
The future generation of canning jars is much easier to use and store than traditional jars - no rings or clips to rust or corrode. Each jar includes a specially-coated lid that seals without having to position flexible rings. Unique marquise-shape stores more food, saves cupboard space and is attractive as a gift jar filled with your homemade jams, preserves, apple butter, fruit or fresh garden vegetables. Available in sets of 6: 1 cup, 3 cup or 4 cup. Dishwasher-safe. Made in Germany.

Free shipping at ChefsCatalog.com until August 20, 2009

cooking up a storm

Love Julia and Jacques....get all the best recipes, cookbooks and DVDs from the series at Chefs Catalog.

Tell your favorite cooking stories, deck out your kitchen like a super star chef and enter to win a $1000 Gift Card!

Julia and Jaques Cooking at Home

Two legendary cooks, Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, invite us into their kitchen and show us the basics of good home cooking.

What makes this book unique is the richness of information they offer on every page, as they demonstrate techniques (on which they don't always agree), discuss ingredients, improvise, balance flavors to round out a meal, and conjure up new dishes from leftovers. Center stage in these pages are carefully spelled-out recipes flanked by Julia's comments and Jacques's comments--the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime of honing their cooking skills. Nothing is written in stone, they imply. And that is one of the most important lessons for every good cook.

 

bon appétit

So dedicated readers to this blog already know that Julia Child's birthday is rapidly approaching....and in the spirit of all things French on the eve of Bastille Day we will point you to another supremene chronicler of French tastes.....

from Cooking.com.......Peter Mayle's French Lessons leads a joyous exploration and celebration of the infinite gastronomic pleasures of France. Ranging far from his adopted Provence, Peter Mayle now travels to every corner of the country armed with knife, fork, and corkscrew. He takes us to tiny, out-of-the-way restaurants, three-star Michelin wonders, local village markets, annual festivals, and blessed vineyards. Includes a few recipes.

The French Chef

August 15th is Julia Child's birthday and Julie & Julia is coming out in theatres!!!

Julie Powell's book, Julie & Julia, recounts the year Powell spent completing every recipe in Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' 

Plan your dinner party now.

 

Try Borders.

warming up for some al fresco

Solar cooking on the go with the Solar Sport Oven with Reflector from Gaiam

The oven concentrates the renewable heat of the sun to effortlessly (and deliciously!) roast meats, steam vegetables, bake breads and cookies, and prepare rice, soups and stews. Ideal for backyard use, camping, boating and picnicking. Requires only minimal sun aiming to cook most foods in two to four hours. The complete kit includes two pots, solar reflector (for an increase in temperature on cold or cloudy days), oven thermometer, water pasteurization indicator and recipe book.

The Solar Sport Oven is easy to transport and store. It weighs 10 pounds and measures 12 ¼” high by 27 ¼” long by 17" deep. Constructed of post-consumer recycled plastic pop bottles, aluminum and state of the art insulation. It is efficient, environmentally friendly, cost effective and fun to use. It is specially designed to maintain steady, moderate (210-260 F) cooking temperatures, and can reach temperatures of 300 Degrees Fahrenheit in Equatorial Regions.

grill baby grill

Smokin' on my grill this weekend will be Burnt Oranges with Rosemary courtesy of the NYT.

Cast iron skillet courtesy of Cooking.com