BRUCE (AKA The Chef)

MARK (AKA The Writer)

 

DREYDL (AKA The Dog)

Check out this cheeky tome called Ham: An Obsession With The Hindquarter

FINE COOKING calls it "a witty ode to pork's most primal cut." It's our hymn to backsides: American country ham, European dry-cured hams like prosciutto crudo or jamón ibérico, wet-cured hams like the ones from HoneyBaked, and even fresh hams, the best pork roast you'll ever eat. (Click on the cover to get your copy today.)

The Ultimate Cook Book

Our big compendium cookbook--900 new recipes, tons of cooking tips. You'll be an ultimate cook in no time.

Want to see a video on this book. Check it out here.

Cooking Know-How

WINNER OF THE 2009 GOURMAND AWARD at the Paris cookbook show for the "BEST COOKBOOK IN THE WORLD" for "easy recipes." Also starred reviews in both Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal, a main selection of the Good Cook Book of the Month Club, a selection by NPR as one of the best cookbooks of 2009, and a favorite of the San Jose Mercury--that called us "culinary wonks."

Pizza: Grill It, Bake It, Love It!

Our brand-new pizza book. That's the squash, caramelized onion, and pine nut pie. And there are 89 more.

The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book

Cookies galore--and every one of them with chocolate: chips, shavings, cocoa, melted, irresistible.

The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book

America's favorite spread? Yes, but also the world's. Wait until you see all the no-cook Asian sauces, the African stew, the Filipino braise, and a host of favorites from breakfast to dessert!

Cooking For Two

Every dish for just two--and no waste. Cut it, open it--and use it. It's a feast for twosomes.

The Ultimate Muffin Book

Get your muffins! The chocolate chip ones soon became a holiday tradition in our house.

The Ultimate Ice Cream Book

The book that started a whole career. A quarter million copies in print and still going strong!

The Ultimate Frozen Dessert Book

And a follow-up to The Ultimate Ice Cream Book, this time with gelato, sherbet, granita, and a groaning board of ice cream cakes and frozen pies!

The Ultimate Shrimp Book

A one-book compendium for America's favorite seafood

The Ultimate Party Drink Book

Up, shaken, frozen, pitcher punches, shooters--here's a guide to drinks to make your next party a splash

The Ultimate Brownie Book

Fudgy, cakey, you name it--even a chapter on brownie mix doctor recipes--here's a book that'll keep everyone smiling!

The Ultimate Candy Book

A reviewer on amazon called it "an evil book." We could only hope so. Gooey, crunchy, a ton of chocolate barks, fudge, divinity, and it just keeps going.

The Ultimate Potato Book

Spuds forever! We love everything about the potato--and in this book, we made our favorite vegetable front and center since every recipe is a main course with spuds aplenty.

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Our Youtube Channel

Want to see more? Come on over to our youtube channel. We're cooking up a storm! Check it out here.

Get your copy of our seven-step plan to get off processed food!

Click on the book jacket for your copy. Don't miss it. Seven simple steps, a hundred great recipes, lots of motivational help, and all in an easy plan that starts small and could end up changing your life!

THE BLOG ROLL
THE PERSONAL STUFF
JOIN US!

Want to come cruising with us? We're off to Alaska with Holland America on August 4th for a week--leaving from Vancouver (and returning to there) with lots of cruising up the Tracy Arm and through Glacier Bay National Park. We'll be cooking up a storm in classes on board, so come have a blast with us. For more information, click here.

 

REVIEWS OF COOKING KNOW-HOW

Don't take our word for it. Here are some cool reviews of COOKING KNOW-HOW:

weightwatchers.com

In Mama's Kitchen

5 Second Rule

Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Winston Salem Journal

Super Chef

NPR--chosen one of the ten best cookbooks for the summer of 2009

Relish Magazine (although the writer complains that I use too many big words. Heaven forfend!)

And if you want to see an outrageous clip of us on San Francisco TV, check out our appearance on A View From The Bay here.

Or for white bean veggie burgers on the same show--in which I go off on a bizarre jag about the ethics of cruising--click here.

DANCING WITH A COLLIE

brought on no doubt by that empty bottle of wine on top of the fridge

EMAIL ME
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    Bruce's Blog

    Bruce has his own blog. A knitting blog. Knits Men Want. It's a companion site to his new knitting book: ten rules every woman should know before she knits for a man--plus ten patterns men are guaranteed to like. And I do. I have some of the sweaters. And I wear them. Imagine that. Check on the cover to check it out.

    Wednesday
    May272009

    Cold Peanut Noodles

    When we wrote The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book, I was for a time in heaven. Peanut butter is just one of those things: comforting, deep-tasting, salty, sweet. That the French hate it so much is a mystery to me. I consider it the foie gras of America. (Well, OK, almost.)

    The great thing about cooking with peanut butter--particularly savory cooking--is that you're starting with an already developed sauce, as it were. There are so many deep, caramelized flavors going on in peanut butter that you're miles ahead of the sauce-making game from the get-go.

    So this easy side dish--or main course for a light lunch--is a wonderful thing on a summer day. (I wouldn't know--it's raining and cold here in the Berkshires. But I have a pretty vivid imagination.)

    Start by cooking and draining 12 ounces dried Chinese egg noodles or dried udon noodles in a large pot of water over high heat, then draining them in a colander set in the sink.

    Once that's done, make the sauce by whipping up all this in a food processor or a large blender: 6 tablespoons toasted sesame oil, 3 tablespoons natural-style peanut butter, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar (or 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar), 2 teaspoons chile oil, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger. Just process or blend until it's a wet paste.

    A note on two of those ingredients. Chinese black vinegar is made from fermented, glutinous (aka sticky) rice and sweetened with various aromatics, usually star anise. It can be hard to track down outside of Chinese grocery stores, so I offered the substitute above. Not the same thing but close enough. And chile oil is the pale red or orange oil made by steeping chiles in, well, oil. It's a common condiment in the Asian aisle of most supermarkets.

    See? A sauce in seconds, no simmering needed. Pour that into a large bowl and add the drained noodles.

    Then add a couple minced scallions, a seeded minced cucumber, and a seeded, cored, and thinly sliced red bell pepper. Toss it all up and you're ready to serve. Or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days, tossing it all again before serving.

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