Beignets - Video

First and foremost, these things are impossibly easy to make and your work will be rewarded by the children in the home or equally important the adults that like a nice, hot, doughy treat with their coffee.  A little planning ahead the night before, and a bit of oil for deep frying in the morning are all the effort this will take beyond the ingredients in the common larder.  This recipe is adapted from one described by Cooks Country in Cooks Illustrated here.

Twice-Fried French Fries (Redux) - Video

I know I have already done a blog post on this, but these fries are so good that I had to video the process and give a few more details.

The mighty russet potato.  The correct consistency for a fry, and more importantly, the traditional spud for the process.

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

 When thinking about one's favorite dessert, ice cream comes to mind for most folks, from kids to adults.  There is some mystery about the construction of excellent ice cream, magic even, that prevents most from giving it a shot.  However with some inexpensive equipment and readily-available ingredients, the home chef can whip up an enviable batch with both ease and only a modest investment in time.

Shucking An Oyster - VIDEO

Oysters are an acquired taste and are thought of as a regional treat, but they are both healthy for the environment as cleaners of the the bays in which they reside, and for consumption due to their high zinc and protein contributions.

Making Roast Turkey (or Chicken) Gravy - VIDEO

Besides the family stuffing, gravy seems to provoke the most debate, and have a certain family propriety to it.  Your gravy will conjure up memories of childhood Thanksgivings or other holidays, and strange gravy will fall flat on your memory banks.

Thick or thin? Giblets or smooth? Salty or bland?  Each family seems to have a tradition.  But gravy, while a simple concept, is not so simple in execution.  Remember those lumpy, starchy gravies of youth (maybe even of today)?  Gravy is more than a mixture of stock and thickener.  It is the unifying element on the plate, the sauce in which all the important meal elements swim.  Isn't it worth a little effort?

Making Butter At Home. Good Stuff - VIDEO

Making butter at home is both simple and delicious with the right ingredients, tools, and technique.

Butter is simply the liberated fat from cream, which is generally stored in the emulsion that is cream.  The trick is to use agitation to combine the tiny fat globules into a growing mass until all the fat is liberated from the solution.  Chemistry. 

Making Fresh Pasta At Home

Carbohydrates have become the scourge of American diets, cursing some of the best comfort foods of the ages such as potatoes, pasta, and bread.  But each of these culinary elements is the spice of life.  Who can imagine a pot roast without mashed potatoes, roast chicken without stuffing, and any Italian dish without pasta and Sunday gravy?

I have been making fresh pasta for years, but grudgingly, with hand-kneading of the dough and a simple hand-cranked Atlas pasta machine that must be close to 30 years old at this point.  The heavy manual labor and time involved had put my pasta-making skills on hiatus thanks to kids/life balance.  But some new techniques and some investment in a few tools has made the process infinitely more simple and quick, allowing for same-day turnaround for an excellent product.  And there is nothing wrong with bragging rights for making your own product.