…is that an empty oven doubles nicely as a drying kiln. As those of you who’ve been keeping up with me lately know, I’ve been having trouble sourcing nice dry wood in the off season. These cut pieces are especially moist, since they probably came fresh from a tree-felling to my garage. To hear the […]
READ ON…because I’m not nearly confident that I have this oven-firing thing down yet. I have definitely become a better fire tender, though I confess I still emit the rank odor of the greenhorn. So then, in the interests of keeping those of you who are interested up-to-date on my oven adventure, what follows is a […]
READ ONSo then, having tried and tried and tried again to master this brick oven firing thing, I’ve gotten to a place where I’m mostly satisfied. There’s still plenty to learn, I’m certain of that, but at least now I’m in a zone where I can generate enough heat to get my Alan Scott-designed wood burning […]
READ ONIt’s been a long weekend of food, drink, merriment and auto racing, the highlight being the Indy 500, an event I attend every year. Though not technically a race fan, I love the spectacle of the thing. This year wasn’t as thrilling as years past, though there was plenty of drama with all the various […]
READ ONThe thing about wood is, size matters. Or to be more accurate, surface area. To get a wood-fired oven ready for baking, you want to get as much heat into the masonry as you can as fast as you can. Because the thing about heat is, it dissipates. Even in a big 8-foot-tall mass of […]
READ ONThere are some very skilled cooks and bakers who swear by this technique, by which you heat milk (and/or cream) to just below the boiling point (to where a skin forms on the surface) then cool it and use it as the basis of a custard mix. People swear it results in a better-textured custard […]
READ ONGreat stuff today from David Brooks at the New York Times. Makes ya kinda proud to be a spaz.
READ ONSeems the ethanol bubble has created yet another unintended side effect: a black market for used restaurant oil. Most people who’ve worked in restaurants know that food operations generate a lot of waste oil and grease, especially if they have a fryer. My doughnut fryer produced more than a little every month, which I’d deposit […]
READ ONOwning a brick oven ain’t no picnic, friends. As the months have passed since its completion I’ve received increasing numbers of emails inquiring what’s going on with it and where the blasted pictures are. All I can say is the completion of the oven was just the first step in my evolution into an active […]
READ ONDid you know that there’s a French-descended, custard-loving tribe in Central America called the “Quiche”? It’s true! They wear berets, love Jean Genet plays, practice mime and… OK, no there’s isn’t. The name of the tribe is pronounced “kee-chay”, even though the spelling’s the same. It was a fun idea while it lasted.
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