Category Archives: experiment

Introducing the Recipe Builder

I’ve got something I’m excited to share with you. I’ve been working on it for a while, and finally figured out how to fit it in here. If you’ve been reading this blog for long, or if you’ve ever cooked with me, you know I believe fiercely in messing with recipes.  I’m more likely to [...]

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Peach and yellow tomato bruschetta

The title is misleading. This isn’t really bruschetta – I had no good bread on hand when I made it.  As you’ll see in the picture, I made it in one large dish, instead of individual servings (that’s polenta, underneath).  But it was meant to go on bread, and would have, if I weren’t too [...]

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What scares you?

Amanda, over at the Internet Food Association, posted this week about her success in making risotto – her “Everest,” a dish that has always intimidated her. I’m pretty sure everyone has foods like this.  I’ve never worried about risotto, and as a vegetarian I happily don’t need to deal with things like de-boning chicken, but [...]

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Guest post: Italian wedding soup

This “recipe” comes from my friend Lee (@mr_butlertron), who is an amazing cook and wrote this… recipe? essay? stream-of-consciousness story?… about the soup he made for dinner the other night.  It’s full of improvisation (if you’re a regular reader, you know I’m all about improvisation) and I love how he captures both the excitement of [...]

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Cooking by a roll of the dice

Now, as much as I advocate experimentation in your cooking, I don’t recommend randomness. If you’re going to do something off-the-wall, make sure you have a good reason, even if the reason is just to see how the flavors go together. If you want to put bacon in your martini (and I know people who [...]

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Savory apple tofu

In college, I invented a dish I called “apple tofu.”  I was very proud of myself; it was the first recipe I’d ever made up on my own, and I thought it was pretty tasty.  It was basically chopped-up apples, simmered with cubed tofu until they got soft and the tofu picked up the apple [...]

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Southwest Blueberry Soup

I’ve been posting a lot about blueberries, because they’re bountiful (but soon to be out of season), delicious, and adaptable.  This is my newest creation: Southwest Blueberry Soup. This recipe has been beating around my brain for a few weeks (I mused about it when I made a more dessert-like blueberry soup), and tonight I [...]

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Weekend cooking smorgasbord

This weekend featured a surprising number of experiments in my kitchen. Blueberry soup I’d seen a few recipes for blueberry soups over the past week, and it seemed like too much of a coincidence not to try it.  It’s incredibly easy: simmer and blend the berries, chill, stir in yogurt.  It made a nice and [...]

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Things that shouldn’t work, but do

Three cooking adventures came out of this weekend: My first attempt at making yogurt!  I’ve been planning to do this for a while, and finally got to it since we had an abundance of milk.  It’s surprisingly easy.  I used my favorite farmer’s market yogurt as a starter.  I love foods that live forever: yogurt [...]

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No maple syrup required

My long-standing but unproved thesis is that pancakes are the ultimate adaptable food. They’re great. The base is just flour and eggs, with a few extras thrown in for texture and flavor; you can even use different flours to make multigrain pancakes, though they tend to be heavy. For breakfast, you can put tons of [...]

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