Blog - Page 83 of 125 - How To Cook Like Your Grandmother

What Pizza Crust Taught Me About Myself

February 2, 2009 (Updated March 24, 2014) by Drew Kime

I just started my relationship with yeast breads this past fall. I haven't done the same recipes over and over to really get them right, because there are so many breads I want to try. But I'm getting comfortable working with the dough ... though apparently "comfortable" is still well short of "confident." That's why this post is not called How To Make Pizza Crust. I knew it wasn't going right, but I figured I ought to follow the recipe the first time before I started getting … [Read more...]

How To Make Ravioli, part 1

January 30, 2009 (Updated March 24, 2014) by Drew Kime

Dinner, Pasta Italian

Today isn't about the recipe, it's a rundown of several techniques for making ravioli. I'll put the recipe for the filling up the next time my father-in-law makes it. It was already made before I showed up with the camera. In the clips below I'm working with my father-in-law, Lou. His mother and her sisters would spend several days each fall making thousands of ravioli and freezing them to use through the holidays. When I say thousands, I'm talking about 12-14,000 ravioli. And yes, they'd … [Read more...]

How To Make French Onion Soup

January 29, 2009 (Updated March 23, 2014) by Drew Kime

Favorites, Soup Undieting

I've tried French onion soup in a few restaurants but I never liked it. Probably because I tried it at chain places that used frozen or dehydrated. But from what's in it -- beef broth and roasted onions -- this is something I should just love. So I decided to make some for myself and see. And, surprise, when made with real ingredients ... this stuff is good. (But I still need a good copycat recipe for onion soup mix to use in recipes, like dip. Oh, and while you're here, you might want to … [Read more...]

My Best Failed Experiment Yet

January 28, 2009 (Updated November 18, 2013) by Drew Kime

Beef

I always get more creative when I'm working with leftovers. What can I do with this that I haven't done a thousand times before? Sometimes it comes out pretty good. Other times ... eh, not so much. This time I had a couple of things to use, so I had a couple of chances to succeed, or not. One idea sort of worked, the other was a spectacular failure. So bad, in fact, that I think I invented a whole new type of food. In a good way. And once again, no pictures. I had no idea this was going to … [Read more...]

How To Make French Dimpled Rolls

January 27, 2009 (Updated March 24, 2014) by Drew Kime

Bread recipe card

It's taken me several tries, but I've finally found the dinner roll recipe I'm going to go with. It's drop-dead simple, doesn't require any special ingredients, doesn't need to be sliced, and doesn't require that bane of my existence: the slash in the top. If that last piece doesn't make any sense to you, think about the slice (or slices) in the top of most large bread loaves. No, not sandwich bread. I mean a nice crusty loaf, the kind you serve with a fancy dinner. You slice the dough after … [Read more...]