Recipes and food adventures with Adam Roberts

  • Mayonnaise-Based Sauces

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    Mayonnaise-Based Sauces

    Growing up, there was nothing I hated more than mayonnaise. NOTHING. The idea of putting mayonnaise on a sandwich repulsed me. It still does, actually. I mean: if it’s a burger and there’s mayonnaise on it, I’ll overlook it because it blends with all the juices and the ketchup and the mustard and makes something…

  • When Foam Looks Like Spit

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    When Foam Looks Like Spit

    Let’s not worry about where I was when this dessert arrived at the table; let’s not even worry about what this dessert is or how it was described on the menu. Instead, let’s just focus on that clear, bubbly substance on the top. Tell me the truth: does it look like spit? I think it…

  • The Culinary Cardiologist

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    Rob Siegel is a cardiologist who joined a big group of us last week, before seeing “Star Trek,” for dinner at The Brooklyn Diner (not the best place for a meal, but a decent option near the Ziegfield Theater). There were so many of us, we were split into two groups, and, unfortunately, I wasn’t…

  • Citrus-Glazed Polenta Cake

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    Citrus-Glazed Polenta Cake

    I’m heading home in five minutes (really! the car’s on its way) to attend my brother’s wedding this weekend in Boca Raton, Florida. You were there when my brother got engaged (remember?) and now the wedding’s finally here and we’re all pretty excited. But I didn’t want to leave you without anything to cook this…

  • Chocolate Mousse

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    Chocolate Mousse

    There is only one dessert to eat after Coq au Vin and that dessert is chocolate mousse. Now, if you’re anything like me and you love the movie “Rosemary’s Baby” you won’t pronounce that chocolate mousse, you’ll pronounce it “chocolate mouse” employing your best Ruth Gordon voice. (If you have no idea what I’m talking…

  • Coq au Vin

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    Coq au Vin

    Dear New York Weather: it’s almost June, and yesterday I was wearing a sweatshirt and I had the heat on. And it’s almost June! I understand you have your peculiarities, that you’re grappling with a diminishing ozone and toxic emissions, but I bought some cute new short sleeve shirts from UniQlo in SoHo (what a…

  • David’s Sweet Life

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    David’s Sweet Life

    Several years ago, when I went to Paris, I rode the Metro from my teensy hotel in the 80th arrondissement, to meet a food blogger I admired but had never met, Mr. David Lebovitz. As I came up the stairs (or was it an escalator?) I beheld a vision: there, standing before me, was a…

  • Asparagus & Rhubarb

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    Asparagus & Rhubarb

    I used to be very confused about seasonal food. I understood the basic idea–that you should buy food when it’s in season, at its peak–but what I didn’t understand is that because most supermarkets in America stock these “seasonal” foods all-year round (tomatoes and watermelon in winter), the only real way to experience seasonal food…

  • Cheese For Dinner

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    Cheese For Dinner

    Murray’s Cheese is often celebrated as the best cheese shop in New York. Frequently I walk past it and wonder, “If I go in there, what will I buy? And how can I make a meal out of that?” I’m very meal-oriented when I food shop: I usually ignore long-term ingredients like high-end oils and…

  • How To Roast A Duck

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    How To Roast A Duck

    Certain foods are meant to be cooked at home: roast chicken, pot roast, spaghetti and meatballs. Other foods are meant to be eaten out: steak tartare, sushi, a flaming baked Alaska. Sure we can make those latter foods at home, but often times they’re not worth the hassle or the danger (raw steak at home?…