Experiment 0 - The Selection

Officially, I'm not starting the experiments until 2012.  But now that I have set up the blog and posted the welcome, I'm champing at the bit.  Still, I've gone ahead and titled this "Experiment 0".  It's an experimental experiment.

First up then is a recipe from the "Ask the Chef" column in the Hartford Courant's Northeast magazine, dated August 27, 1989.  This column accepted reader's queries for "any recipe made commerically in Connecticut," and this installment featured Fresh Roasted Tomato Soup as served at the Copper Beech Inn in Ivoryton.  When the column's author called the Inn, she discovered that the chef who was responsible for this soup had left his job the day before.  However, she tracked him down and was able to get the recipe, which was in turn based on another chef's creation.  So without any further ado...

Fresh Roasted Tomato Soup
5 lbs ripe plum tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
   Juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream
   Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 bunch fresh cilantro, washed, stems discarded, to yield 1/2 - 3/4 cup loosely packed leaves, coarsely chopped.

I'll skip the specific instructions for now, but here's a summary.  Halve and roast the tomatoes.  Take half of those and puree, finely chop the rest.  Sauté the onions and garlic in the oil.  Add all the tomatoes and the lemon juice and simmer.  Finally, add the cream, salt, pepper, butter and cilantro; serve.

This says it serves 8.  I might think about cutting this in half before I even start.  Tune in in a few days for the results.

Welcome to The Recipe Box Project

Ah right, because just what the internet needs is another cooking blog. A few weeks before Thanksgiving 2011, I was looking for a recipe that I knew I had "somewhere." While conducting this search, I came across a cardboard box

labeled "Cookbooks and Recipes". Inside this box there were hundreds, if not thousands, of recipes: some that I had clipped from newspapers and magazines, some that had been written down and photocopied and passed around the office, a couple issues of a cooking magazine.   The common thread is that although I saved these recipes, I'd never prepared 99.99% of them.  There are main dishes, side dishes, desserts, appetizers, snacks, drinks, you name it. Things to bake, things to broil, things to sauté, things to grill.

And perhaps a warranty card or two, but that's not important right now.


So here's the plan . . . each week, I'm going to randomly select a recipe from the piles and prepare that item, whatever it is. I might unilaterally veto any selections, based on seasonality, or possible time constraints, but I'll try to just go with whatever turns up. Most likely the selection will be made on Wednesday and the cooking or baking will be done on Saturday. That will give me a couple days to make sure I have the required ingredients, pots, pans, utensils, etc to make whatever it is.


On the day of the selection, I will document the recipe*; after the recipe has been attempted, I'll post about the process** and the results.


* I don't know exactly what the copyright status would be for many of the recipes, or for recipes in general, and my attorneys at Google and Bing LLC haven't been very clear. I'll try to follow the guidelines here, and we'll see how it goes.


** I hope this will be the most interesting part. My general theory has been that a recipe is a suggestion, and I often make changes on the fly - except for baking, which I figure is a more exact science. Primarily this is going to be a learning experience for me.


Some basic blog stuff -- 

Comments are turned on, with moderation. I may not be sitting on top of the "approve" button at all times, so it might take some time for comments to appear. Spam is right out, of course (except maybe it will be in some of the recipes, who can say?). Most other comments will probably be approved, but there's no guarantee. Also, I have Google's AdSense enabled and turned on. I'm not expecting to make a ton of money, but maybe enough to buy myself a beer once in awhile. If I see or hear about really annoying ads, I will revisit the ads concept.