Have an analytical mind? Like to cook? This is the site to read!
Food science books are all the rage these days and naturally of particular interest to readers of Cooking For Engineers. The top dog in the library is still Harold McGee's incredible work, On Food and Cooking. Last month another food science book, The Science of Good Food, was published. This new book might be more accessible to the casual curious cook due to its easy language and beautiful layout.
On a recent trip to Napa, California to Camalie Vineyards, a family vineyard and winery owned by my friend Mark, Tina and I celebrated this year's Cabernet harvest and crush. When we were ready to leave, Mark suggested we try a new restaurant that his friend just opened - Elements. It sounded like a great idea, so off we went.
Last week, Tina and I visited Nate and Annie of House of Annie for an heirloom tomato tasting. They provided twenty different tomato varieties that they grew in their backyard (as well as providing a wonderful dinner) to try. After the tasting, they packed me a care package of tomatoes and suggested I make gazpacho.
Update Oct. 4, 2008: Cooking For Engineers' laptop giveaway contest begins today and ends October 11, 2008. Read this article for all the details.
Starting today, September 23, 2008, HP is giving away 15 laptops through 15 websites and Cooking For Engineers is one of them! You can actually participate in all fifteen giveaways to maximize your chances of getting a laptop. Cooking For Engineers will be giving away an HP Pavilion dv5t notebook computer on October 11, 2008.
While preparing soft boiled eggs, I tested a variety of methods (including cooking the eggs in boiling water as the name suggests, bringing the water up to temperature while the eggs are in the water, holding the water at 150°F until the eggs are cooked, and steeping in just boiling water) in pots of different sizes. After deciding on the steeping method, I reran time tests to determine the best steeping time for a just peelable soft boiled egg. Here's the various stages of soft boiled eggs so you can choose the time that gives you the results you prefer.
