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
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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

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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.

    Monday
    Sep072009

    Butter

    What's Dreydl looking at so longingly? A crock of butter. Hand-made butter. No lie. Sweet, irresistible, utterly nuts. Butter. This may well be the most outrageous thing I've ever blogged.

    So how'd I get a crock of homemade butter? Last weekend, we were at the Epicurean Classic in Saint Joseph, Michigan, and we met the fabulous Jennifer McLagan, author of one of our favorite books: FAT: AN APPRECIATION OF A MISUNDERSTOOD INGREDIENT WITH RECIPES. Jennifer and her husband were a hoot. My only regret was that on the last night, we had to get to bed early to catch a morning flight and missed a chance to get (as Jennifer delicately put it) "pissed" with them in the hotel bar.

    During her demo on a cold, rainy day, Jennifer made butter from scratch. We were sitting in the back--Bruce was knitting, I was editing our new book. I instantly nudged him in the ribs. "I want that," I said.

    So we came home, he read through her recipe, and made it. From scratch. Butter. Indeed. Here's how it went.

    Bruce started with 2 pints (1 quart) heavy cream. According to Jennifer, it can't be ultra-pasteurized, which means we had to do a little searching among gourmet stores to find organic cream that was merely "pasteurized."

    The first task was to warm it up a bit. He poured it into a bowl and let it come to 60F on an instant-read meat ther-mometer stuck into the mix. It took almost 1 1/2 hours on a rather cool day.

    Next, he attached the whisk to the stand mixer and set it going in the bowl at medium-low speed (#3 out of 10 on the KitchenAid mixer). Of course, first came the whipped cream after about five or six minutes, about like this:

    More and more whipping. Then all of the sudden, after a few minutes, out of the blue, like magic, it started to look curdled and clump up, and then yellow curds started to form, like this:

    And finally, very quickly, they all clumped together with a milky liquid left behind. Like this:

    He poured the whole mess through a strainer, keeping that milky liquid in a bowl beneath and scraping the butter attached to the whisk into the strainer. He then very gently pressed it against the strainer's mesh to remove more of the liquid.

    He dumped the mass of luscious fat out onto a cutting board and sprinkled about 1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt onto it.

    Now he kneaded it to remove more of that liquid, scraping it off the cutting board with a dough scraper. Of course, he couldn't press too hard or the butter would get too warm and begin to melt. Instead, the point was to knead it gently, scraping it off the board, to get all that liquid out of it.

    Finally, he scraped it together and put it in a the little crock. In the end, it made about 2 cups of butter. I've been having it on toast every morning. It's incredible: delicate, subtle, beyond compare.

    And that milky water that was left behind. Ah, well check it out here

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    Reader Comments (4)

    OK, let me get this straight. Bruce knits. Your guys make your own butter. Let me get in my horse and buggy and I'll be right over!

    Wow, seriously, that's very, very cool. Homemade butter!

    September 7, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterCheryl

    And we wonder why Julia Child loved butter so much? Just looking at those photos makes me smile. I wish I had a knife to smear some on a good chunk of sourdough. Mmmmm!

    September 8, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterCarolyn Jung

    Yesterday I made my own butter following your recipe- superb! So doesn't compare to bought stuff. Very delicate on the tongue. There may have been a little kicking up of heels in happiness :-) So thank you

    April 18, 2010 | Unregistered Commentercityhippyfarmgirl

    Let me tell you: I love the stuff. My advice: divide it in half and freeze one part. It goes rancid more quickly that cultured butter from the store. Thaw it overnight in the fridge. But no wonder you kicked up your heels, my friend. There's something ridiculously elemental about the whole thing.

    M.

    April 19, 2010 | Registered CommenterMark Scarbrough

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