Yum.

My brother-in-law is irritated that I have never blogged about him. Funny. I try not to blog about people I know because I think they might enjoy their privacy.

Let me just tell you this: He's an amazing cook and when you watch him in the kitchen, it's like seeing someone completely in his element. He really just needs to chuck it all and start working in a restaurant somewhere.

He made these treats for Oscar night. Little servings of creme brulee in spoons. Delicious. And clever. Go Tom.

More Le Creuset research and a 2010 resolution.

Someone made a comment about Staub in the last post and I checked it out. That research led me to heated debates on the plastic Le Creuset lid handle which shouldn't be put in an oven. I thought this was a deal-breaker until I learned that you can either cook with it (many people do, rules be damned) or you can unscrew it and replace it with a stainless steal handle which you can buy as an accessory on Amazon, at Sur Le Table, or wherever. So that settles it because I've fallen in love with the carribean blue Le Creuset.



That leads me to this:

Why am I buying a french oven? Well, it seems like such a workhorse for making great food. And one of my resolutions for this year is to learn to master 12 really delicious dishes. I need to expand my repertoire. I make about 3 yummy dishes, but I make nothing that is truly special.

So imagine my horror when I learned I would be making Christmas Eve dinner (and New Year's Eve dinner, for that matter) and I realized I didn't have a go-to dish to make for 8 hungry people. I ended up making spaghetti with meatballs (tasty homemade meatballs, but still... what is this? 1950?). Then for New Year's, having exhausted my one big-feed dish (pasta), we gave up on cooking altogether, plopped 8 crabs on the table, and went at it like animals.

It's clear that I need to master better dishes if I want to have any kind of respectable adult life.


So tell me: What should I learn to make? Post to comments, please. Or tell me what your go-to dishes are when you are cooking for two, or when you are cooking for 6.


Photo from epicurious.com. RIP Gourmet...

Le Creuset french oven.

Which size? I am usually cooking for 2 -3 people. Help, please.

My beloved Ina tells me to buy a large one, but, you know, she's probably cooking up for every last person in East Hampton. She's popular, no? My crowd is a tad smaller.


In other news, I loved what she told Town and Country recently:

"I'm not an adventurous eater. I'm always interested in making something great out of what you can find at the supermarket or the farm stand. I'm not interested in what octopus eyeballs taste like."