CK Food Links--Friday August 15, 2008

Here's yet another selection of particularly interesting food-related links from around the internet.
*************************
Fresh Corn Risotto from Liz's Cooking Blog:
One of my long time commenters once called risotto "an artist's canvas" because of all the possible variations you can try. This fresh corn risotto recipe looks particularly delicious--I never thought of the combination, yet it sounds amazing. I'd suggest adding a few sliced scallions to this dish at the very end for some welcome color.

Beer Can Chicken from Una Buona Forchetta:
Has anybody out there ever tried to make chicken this way? I've seen this cooking method written up elsewhere, but never this concisely explained.

The Cookbook List:
What are the best cookbooks that food professionals turn to for inspiration? A colossal list of recommended cookbooks at The Moment, culled from a wide range of chefs, food writers, restaurant owners and food critics. This ought to give you some ideas to invigorate your cooking! Thanks to CheapHealthyGood for this gem.

In Praise of Sardines
In case you ever decide to start up a restaurant, be sure to read this blog first. Share in the well-written excitements and frustrations of a professional cook who is living his dream and starting his own restaurant in San Francisco. Then, be sure to go and be a regular customer at the owner-operated restaurants in your town. This is a hard job, people. And (unabashed plug coming) if you live in or around Manhattan, patronize my friend Jon's excellent restaurant, Bellavitae, on Minetta Lane near 6th Ave (unabashed plug ended).

Deeply Misguided Article of the Week:
Take Stephen Dubner, a brilliant economist famous for his fascinating book Freakonomics. Remove him completely from his sphere of competence. Add in a failed attempt to make homemade ice cream. What do you get? A thought-provoking but ultimately specious essay on how it's a waste of time and money to cook--or grow--your own food. No wonder they call it the dismal science.

How can I support Casual Kitchen?
If you enjoy reading Casual Kitchen, tell a friend and spread the word! Another way you can support me is by submitting this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to bookmarking sites like del.icio.us, digg or stumbleupon.

2 comments:

Kira said...

I was also frustrated by that Dubner article/blog entry. As a beginning cook, I've been actively cooking for the last 6 weeks, and the only thing I've messed up badly enough to throw away was ONE piece of french toast. I can't even tell you how much money we've saved.

Daniel said...

Yeah, it's surprising how many people have mentioned that article to me as supposed proof that cooking at home isn't worth it. Glad you are finding cooking so practical after just six weeks... you must be a natural.

DK