Author Archives: Garrett Wollman

Week 4 chocolate tasting results

Yesterday we held our fourth weekly chocolate tasting. This week’s theme was “Taste of Somerville”, and the local products were widely panned. My summary of the results: This tasting was a bit of a challenge for the panel; Shirley described … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on 2014-08-14 | Tagged , ,

Really simple recipes: another way to do pork chops

Posted on 2014-08-10

Tonight I did pork chops using a variant of the cast-iron skillet method I originally described for “Jeff Smith’s Serbian Pork Seasoning” that turned out particularly good, and may be better for when you have thinner chops (less than an … Continue reading →

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Hey, even more recipe pointers!

Continuing my trip through the cookbook bookcase (“cookbook case”? “cookbookcase”?), I’ve added some additional recipe pointers: Jacques Pépin, Essential Pépin Michael Wild, et al., Bay Wolf Restaurant Cookbook Judy Rodgers, The Zuni Cafe Cookbook In addition, recipes from America’s Test … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on 2014-08-09 | Tagged

Week 3 chocolate tasting results

Posted on 2014-08-05

We had our third weekly chocolate tasting today, finishing up (for now) our set of mixed-origin chocolates with some boutique and artisanal products — which, surprisingly, did not rate especially highly. I summarized the results this: Contrary to week 2’s … Continue reading →

Quote | Posted on 2014-08-05 | Tagged , ,

Other people’s recipes: Martha Holmberg’s Risotto with Very Meaty Tomato Sauce

Posted on 2014-07-30

This is the first recipe I’ve attempted from Martha Holmberg’s cookbook Modern Sauces (Chronicle Books, 2012). Risotto with tomato sauce sounds like an odd thing, but when you use the proportions and serving sizes indicated, the result is quite tasty … Continue reading →

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Chocolate tasting results for week 2

We held our second weekly chocolate tasting today, with much better attendance. Whereas last week, when we were doing 70% chocolates and most people preferred a “reference” 85% chocolate, this week was 85% chocolates and a plurality preferred a “reference” … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on 2014-07-29 | Tagged , ,

Other people’s recipes: Joanne Chang’s Bittersweet chocolate sorbet

Posted on 2014-07-23

I wasn’t originally going to post about this, since there isn’t really much to see, but I do have one picture of this luscious chocolate dessert from Flour: It came out a little bit icier than intended, I think because … Continue reading →

Image | Posted on 2014-07-23 | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Chocolate tasting results for week 1

Posted on 2014-07-22

I posted the results for week 1 of the chocolate tasting on our wiki. My summary: One of the “ringers”, the Theo Pure 85% Dark, was the overall winner, with two first-place votes and two second-place votes. Opinions on the … Continue reading →

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Yet more recipe pointers

I’ve been a bit of a tear lately annotating cookbooks for recipes I might want to make. I’ve intentionally avoided doing this for the big “encyclopedic” cookbooks, like Joy, which are more for reference than for inspiration, but I’m about … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on 2014-07-21 | Tagged

More updates to recipe pointers

I’ve gone through a few more cookbooks and taken note of things I might want to try: Carole Bloom, Caramel Elaine Louie, The Occasional Vegetarian Kevin Mills and Nancy Mills, Chocolate on the Brain Marlena Spieler, Macaroni & Cheese Hope … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on 2014-07-20 | Tagged