I’m slowly emptying my fridge. Every spare inch of cabinet space in my kitchen is crammed with errant bags of flour, sugar and brown sugar. I won’t cook again until next week, and I’m worried my KitchenAid’s motor might be overwhelmed by the task ahead. Read on to find out why.
… sous vide lamb. Just about everywhere I turn these days, someone is hating on sous vides. I can’t count the number of podcasts I’ve listened to and articles I’ve read in which some food person I admire has named the sous vide the most useless kitchen appliance or copped to throwing theirs in the trash. That’s why I’m dropping my voice to a whisper to tell you: I actually really like my sous vide.
Was it relatively expensive for a device I only use every month or two? Absolutely. But that money is spent, and the sous vide box takes up relatively little space on a high-up shelf where I’d never dream of storing anything essential — so I’m not seeing a lot of downside, especially when I’m almost always pleased with what I pull out of those water baths.
One of my favorite butcher counter exercises is this: I check out what’s on sale and buy the cut of meat I’m least familiar with. The other day, that was a butterflied leg of lamb. “One pound!” I announced to the butcher, as if I had any clue what I was talking about. I went home, did a bit of Googling and came across this Serious Eats recipe, which I loosely followed. (I served the lamb over basmati rice with red pepper and onions.)
And, well, whoa. The plate I handed my husband made it look (and taste) like I’d spent actual time and energy laboring over our meal. I had not. I actually edited a story while simultaneously, absent-mindedly cooking. That’s a win.
… cake. So much cake. Never have I had more I wanted to write in this section and less that I’m actually prepared to write. Some of you caught on when I dropped a few hints on Instagram over the summer, but in case you didn’t: I’m making my own wedding cake. Actually, wedding cakes, plural. I started with some of the fillings — ganache and compote and candied hazelnuts and all kinds of other accoutrements — last week, and the actual cake-baking will commence Wednesday. Wish me luck, and stay tuned for more writing about this project, which I have not yet started to regret.
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