Extreme Cooking Blog

In the wonderful movie, Julie & Julia, de-boning a chicken is presented as the biggest challenge facing Julie in her quest to cook through Julia’s book. In reality, de-boning a bird is fairly simple, and with practice takes just a few minutes. I take a little longer with turkeys since I like to remove all of tendons in the drumstick.

This turkey was stuffed, smoked, and sliced up for sandwiches using this sourdough bread:

Also served with cherry chutney.

Increase resolution to 720p for best results. View in HD in YouTube even better.

Peter Reinhart, in his Brother Juniper’s Bread Book, claims that these are the kind of sticky buns they make in Philadelphia. I would have no way of knowing. But I can tell you that these are sensational – so much better than the empty, fast-food versions.

Reinhart’s book is much more than just a collection of recipes. It includes essays about baking as a metaphor for many aspects of our lives. In the case of sticky buns, which are loaded – really loaded – with unessential ingredients,  the profound satisfaction from eating them converts them to something which is totally essential. I agree!!!!!

Can’t get enough of these. So much fun to bake – even more fun to eat.

The day after Christmas, in the spirit of Italian Christmas Eve seafood feasts, we made a rich cioppino and the most heavenly loaf of ciabatta. All you could hear was slurping and moaning.

This is my first stab at creating the rolls for Buffalo, NY’s beloved Beef on Weck. I could not believe how well they came out! Beginner’s luck.

My dirty little secret: These are from a box! So beautiful and so delicious!

Is anything better than a steaming hot popover just out of the oven, slathered with jam and butter?

Sometimes a sandwich is a quick meal. And sometimes with a little effort, it can be a feast, especially on a cold, blustery day. Check out this one:

• Freshly baked Struan bread (it was still warm)
• Tomatoes from the garden (yes, it is still pumping out amazing fruit!)
• Avocado
• Ham
• Cheese
• Lettuce
• Kewpie mayo

And some pumpkin soup made from a gorgeous French pumpkin: