Writing about food since 2004.
Category
Disasters
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Plastic Pork Shoulder
Dear Suzanne Goin, I love you and your book Sunday Suppers at Lucques. It’s the book I go to when I want to dazzle, when I want to blow my guests out of the water. On Friday, my guest would be none other than Lauren, a great friend and former roommate who was there at…
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Blueberry Disaster
I fully support, endorse and celebrate the spirit with which Nancy Silverton wrote her newest book, A Twist of the Wrist. For a chef as particular as Silverton (and believe me, having made her sourdough bread from scratch, that woman loves detail) it’s refreshing to see her let down her hair, so to speak, with…
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My Burnt Foot
Picture it: my kitchen, last Thursday. I’m standing at the stove attempting to make Colman Andrews’ recipe for Rigatoni with Chickpeas and Anchovies from Nancy Silverton’s “A Twist of the Wrist” and I have a giant vat of water boiling for the pasta. The sauce is simple: you just take 12 anchovies, mash them up…
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The Day My Pound Cake Threw Up
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful,” I thought, “if instead of making a complicated fancy-schmancy-my-name-is-Nancy dessert I made something really simple like a pound cake? And used really good butter? And fresh farmer’s market eggs? And served it with raspberries and whipped cream? And used Martha Stewart’s recipe?” That was the plan. I bought Plugra style butter…
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A Fishy Feast
Alex and Raife are friends from college who came to stay with me last week. On the phone, the day before they came, Alex said, “Adam, my sister Lizzie wants to know if she gives you $10, will you cook us dinner?” “No $10 necessary,” I said. “I was going to cook for you anyway!”…
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The Super Bowl Dinner of DEATH
People sometimes say to me: “Adam, you’ve been the Amateur Gourmet for three years. Are you always going to be an amateur?” As I consider the question I think of all my kitchen triumphs–my braised lamb shanks, my perfect roast chicken, my Amanda Hesser almond cake. I could very well answer, “No! One day I…
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The Little Chicken That Could, The Little Tart That Couldn’t
Alice Waters, I thought you were crazy. I’ve been roasting chickens for a long time now and when I flipped through my Chez Panisse Cookbook the other night and read your recipe for roasted chicken I couldn’t believe it. No fat! No melted butter brushed on the surface (like The Barefoot Contessa’s) or softened butter…
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Toasted Coconut Marshmallows FROM HELL
New York, NY. April 18, 2006—For foodblogger Adam Roberts, the night started out like any other. “I was crying into my pillow and cursing my existence like I always do,” he told reporters yesterday. “When I suddenly had the urge to make Ina Garten’s toasted coconut marshmallows.” Roberts saw Ms. Garten make these marshmallows on…
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Peanut Brittle Soup: A Fable
There once was a boy whose spirits would droop “I love to eat candy and I love to eat soup,” he’d write in his journal while taking a poop. “One day I will find a solution.” He travelled the world and the world shook its head He slept with great wisemen and the wisemen all…
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![Why Bad Soups Happen To Good People [Plus: My Newest Kitchen Gadget!]](https://amateurgourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/badsoups.webp)
Why Bad Soups Happen To Good People [Plus: My Newest Kitchen Gadget!]
Usually I put the name of the dish I’m writing about in the title of the post, but if I were to do that here you’d probably say: “Ummm, Adam, it’s Butternut Squash and Italian Sausage Soup. That’s gross. Of course it’s nasty.” And, inevitably, if I linked to it you’d discover its source: Emeril…
