Now Cooking | More ‘Tiny Kitchen’

Since my first post about “Tiny Kitchen,” which takes you into my small kitchen to demonstrate the Sunday Magazine recipes, we have filmed two more webisodes.
One involved making spelt crackers, and another a Roquefort and walnut salad. Many viewers of the first video, The Normandy cocktail, have said that “Tiny Kitchen” and the published recipes it features are hard to locate on the Web site. We are working on this. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy them and keep the feedback coming. It’s so useful. Thanks.

Read more food coverage on The Moment.

What Gives | Gifting the Foodie

The editors of T Magazine present What Gives, a guide to holiday gifting.

__________

This olive wood nutcracker puts a new twist on a Christmas classic. And who doesn’t love waffles? The Uno Villaware waffle maker delivers crisp Belgium-style deliciousness.

Olivewood nutcracker, $14.50. Available at For Small Hands.

UNO Round Belgian Waffler, $59.95. Available at Sur la Table.

Need more gift ideas? Read previous posts of What Gives.

What Gives | Gifting the Foodie

The editors of T Magazine present What Gives, a guide to holiday gifting.

__________

This year’s office holiday party may have been canceled, but ’tis still the season for soirees, right? Instead of a bottle of wine, offer your host the unexpected: a bottle of bright olive oil, like Gianfranco Becchina’s Sicilian Olio Verde. Made from large green Nocellara olives that are harvested and pressed in October, Olio Verde is the kind of oil you’ll want to pour onto a plate, sprinkle with sea salt and run a piece of crusty baguette through it — simple yet extravagant.

Just Do It | Tackle the Turkey

Jill Santopietro is a recipe tester, recipe writer and food stylist at The New York Times Magazine.

Last week, three friends asked me where they could buy a pre-cooked turkey. When I asked them why, I expected responses like, “My oven is broken,” or, “We’re going camping this year.” But that wasn’t the case. They were planning to prepare Thanksgiving dinner at home, but had opted not to tackle the turkey.

Why all the turkey anxiety?

Now Screening | ‘Tiny Kitchen’ Cooking Videos

Jill Santopietro, our resident recipe tester, brings you into her test kitchen (and her apartment).

One night my friend Jenny came over as I was testing recipes for the Sunday magazine. She has been working with Mark Bittman on his video shorts to accompany his The Minimalist column on the Times Web site. One look at me in my kitchen and she thought, “We need to film this.” Thus,
“Tiny Kitchen” was born.

Food | Responsible Chocolate, Anyone?

(Lars Klove for The New York Times)

On Wednesday I wrote an article in The New York Times about Kallari, a group of indigenous Ecuadorean cacao farmers and self-taught chocolate makers, whose bars are now sold at Whole Foods markets across the country. Kallari’s story is a rare one in the history of chocolate, a history that has been dominated by conquerors and industrialized countries.

I was curious about how Kallari’s bar would stand up to the other organic, Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance bars on the Whole Foods shelves. I admit I’ve always been skeptical of organic chocolate. In my experience, most of it tastes awful. Organic certification of chocolate is different than organic certification of local produce, or at least this was the case three years ago, when as a part-time job, I was handing out samples of a high-end, non-organic-chocolate bar at Whole Foods stores around Manhattan.

Mixology 101 | Professor Degroff

 

Last weekend I attended Dale Degroff’s Cocktail Clinic at the New York Food and Wine Festival, held in the meatpacking district. On my way to his seminar, I walked past the Rachael Ray book signing line, which ran nearly the whole length of Chelsea Market. Poor fools, I thought. After all, it was almost 4 p.m. — cocktail time. And while they were clamoring for a glimpse of Ms. Ray, I was sipping a martini as Degroff poured his flaming Blue Blazer from goblet to goblet as though he were part of a circus act.

The Back Story | Farmers’ Market Food Fight

Smashing pumpkins and more …(Martin Klimas for The New York Times)
The Back Story previews articles appearing in the style and food pages of The New York Times Magazine. This Back Story is told by Jill Santopietro, who writes, tests and edits recipes and styles food for the magazine.

This Sunday’s New York Times Magazine tackles the politics of food, covering topics such as kosher values in a sustainable world, tipping in restaurants, today’s young food renegades and the philosophies of Kenny Shopsin. The magazine also includes a long letter by Michael Pollan to the future president of the United States about what he can and should do to improve the way we grow and eat our food. In the article,“Farmer in Chief,” one suggestion Pollan makes is the following:

At the Table | Dan Barber’s Radical Evolution

Scenes from Stone Barns. (Jen Munkvold)

There are only a handful of chefs who have the financial flexibility and skill to be artists, and whose style, like that of a great musician, morphs through the years and lands them in a very different place from where they started. A great chef’s menu should never read like his greatest hits.

After my first visit to Blue Hill at Stone Barns two years ago, I concluded that the food was fresh, artfully prepared and delicious. But not until I returned three weeks ago did I realize that Dan Barber is an artist.

The Back Story | The Great New York City Smoke-in

(Kenji Aoki for The New York Times)

The Back Story previews articles appearing in the style and food pages of The New York Times Magazine. This Back Story is told by Jill Santopietro, who writes, tests and edits recipes and styles food for the magazine.

In this Sunday’s Magazine, I discuss how to create barbecue flavors indoors — in my case, in a 350-square-foot New York City apartment. This challenge, if you want to call it that, turned out to be more fun and a lot easier than I imagined. How do you smoke food without smoking yourself out?