Belm Blog

Eighth Annual Birthday Dinner

David — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 01:25:46 +0000

I have been busy as of late due to a new full-time job, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been cooking. The cooking has continued, I just haven’t had the time to write about it. When I realized a month had gone by without my posting about the annual birthday dinner for She Who Must Be Obeyed [...]

You’re Fired!

David — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:25:41 +0000

I knew something odd had happened when more than a few friends asked me if I had consulted with Penn Jillette on his new ice cream flavor. I know a bit about ice cream, and I’ve known Penn for decades, but this particular intersection on the Venn diagram was completely unexpected. When I realized that [...]

Foodie Friends Friday

David — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 02:30:18 +0000

There’s nothing like a dinner party to force me to dust off the cobwebs and start cooking creatively. We had attended a wonderful gathering in January – probably the best non-restaurant dinner we had enjoyed in years – so I felt it was time to reciprocate. And the bar had been raised. So here’s what [...]

Fwied Wabbit

David — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:41:09 +0000

Things may be quiet here, but I assure you I have been cooking. The soups and stews that have kept us warm and fed during the Month of Endless Winter may not be blogworthy, but they have provided me with an opportunity to explore the depths of the Deep Storage Facility. I could pretend that the [...]

Son of the Cabinet of Doctor Charcuterie*

David — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:39:39 +0000

I had successfully prepared lonza and pancetta, the salami was underway, what else could I try to cure? A quick check of the Deep Storage Facility inventory list revealed a pair of forelegs from a half pig I ordered a few year ago. They were little more than trotters with the hocks still attached, definitely not as [...]

A Trick of the Tail

David — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:42:49 +0000

There’s nothing like a bracing meat pie to get you through the winter cold. My search for a traditional steak and kidney version led me to this Heston Blumenthal recipe, which struck the proper balance between fussy and overly simple. He substitutes oxtail for steak, which results in a more deeply flavored final product. Since [...]

Bugs!

David — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:17:38 +0000

I had to move this blog to a new web host. While the migration was as painless as could be expected, there were still a few hiccups, some of which are still being manifested in these pages: There are stray characters showing up where none were present before. The behavior of the links for previous [...]

That’s How I Roll

David — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 01:41:05 +0000

I joined last year’s Charcutepalooza competition a month late, which meant that I never officially prepared duck prosciutto or guanciale, even though I had made them both previously. I also skipped over a basic panceta, choosing instead to make my own bacon, which had earned me watch list status from the local fire department. I [...]

The Lonza in Winter

David — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 02:43:00 +0000

The new batch of salami wasn’t the first addition to the curing cabinet this fall. I thought I’d ease back into charcuterie mode with something simpler from Salumi, but something that was also an improvement on one of my previous attempts. The lonza cured with orange and fennel met both of those requirements, in particular [...]

Return to the Cabinet of Doctor Charcuterie

David — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:42:39 +0000

Last year at this time I was furiously scrambling to complete my final entry in the Charcutepalooza competition. My lonzino and bresaola had just crossed the time/weight threshold for safe consumption, and quickly disappeared in a flurry of holiday gifts and dinner party appetizers. The salami I had made the month before took longer to [...]