Another successful rendition of the now famous Portland G.Napoleone Meatball Contest.
The History:
Founder - John Barrows: "The third annual G. Napoleone meatball
cook-off commemorates the inaugural event three years ago when Jumbo
Conway's parents were in town for Thanksgiving. Jumbo was bra…
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Added by John Barrows on December 1, 2009 at 5:19pm —
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No, the term "Injun" is not a racial slur. The English wired-jaw rulers of India pronounced the word "Indian" as "Injun".
Indian cooking (in this case vegetarian cuisine of the south) is a great example of a regional cuisine, and the simplicity and purity that define it. No, I'm not an expert on Indian cooking, but I have taught myself enough to discover the simple beauty of it's basic premise. That is, using the methods and spices proven over the millennia, and ingredients that grow abundantly…
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Added by John Barrows on November 22, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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Rent and watch the documentary "Food, Inc." (inspired by Michael Pollan's books)
Total corporate control of our nation's food supply from seed to market to table is literally poisoning us - worse than even the tobacco industry. It is even infiltrating and contaminating the world's food supply.
At the very least boycott anything made by Monsanto, Dyson, Smithfield. Anything containing high-fructose corn syrup or made with any kind of soybean product - and any man-made, processed food in general…
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Added by John Barrows on November 18, 2009 at 7:28am —
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In Saturday's (10/31/09) NYTimes, Nicolette Niman (yes, of the famous Niman Ranch) makes a rational argument for why meat is not necessarily the root of all climate change evil.
Yes, we all know that we (people that is) are responsible for climate change - though I still haven't seen a clear explanation of why we should care or start panicking since having a little warmer weather here in Oregon, and maybe a little more sunshine would not be unwelcome. But one of the arguments that the chicken-l…
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Added by John Barrows on November 1, 2009 at 2:29pm —
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Every now and then my faith in the rationality of the world is sustained by article's like the one in today's NY Times by Rachel Donadio entitled
"So You Think You Know Pasta".
In the article she talks about ORETTA ZANINI DE VITA, the pre-eminent Italian food historian's new book, "The Encyclopedia of Pasta".
Read the article and be amazed that there are still people and cu…
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Added by John Barrows on October 14, 2009 at 11:27am —
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By way of response to Christopher Kimball's Op-Ed (
"Gourmet to All That") in the Oct. 8, 2009 New York Times:
Oh dear! I had always wanted to meet Julia Child. But alas, she has passed away, as Christopher Kimball has noticed. I always loved her charm, as did many millions of other people. And the fact that she never took herself too seriously (unlike Mr. Kimball). So it is with a se…
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Added by John Barrows on October 8, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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No picture here - we have pictures of Sicilian pizza on the site already. But the story is I made one the other night for the kids. I used almost 3 batches of Patrick's no-knead dough and filled a pizzeria sized pan of 18" X 26" with a thick chewy crust.
Adorned with a fresh sauce made with onion, garlic and oregano - and covered with fresh mozzarella. Half was anchovy and caper (the most classic Sicilian recipe) and the other half with peperoni.
Surprisingly this was the kids' first Sicilian…
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Added by John Barrows on September 16, 2009 at 5:20pm —
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Whence came dogs? The theory is that all the doggy breeds came from wolves. And the theory around that was they descended from wolves gathering around the cavemen's fire looking for scraps. Then they were domesticated as protection, for hunting, and companionship. Wrong! Turns out that all the breeds of dog started in what is now China about 14,000 years ago as food! This is a cooking blog - remember?
In the Tuesday Sept. 8 NYTimes Nicholas Wade posits the theory of dogs as ancient Chinese food…
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Added by John Barrows on September 8, 2009 at 8:47pm —
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With pizza being such a universal favorite, we decided to create a page dedicated to just that....PIZZA. Here you will find creations from us and members. Add your pizza creations as you make them here. Enjoy!
See photo detail
here…
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Added by John Barrows on August 9, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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You may be wondering who the two stone-faced characters are that have taken the place of my image on our blog here. They are none other than the Gracchi Brothers of ancient Rome. For my part, I identify with them - and I think that Patrick would, too. Here's a little bit about who they were:
The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, were a pair of tribunes in 2nd century BC who attempted to pass land reform legislation in Ancient Rome that would redistribute the major patrician landholdings amo…
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Added by John Barrows on August 8, 2009 at 6:30am —
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I'm sitting around on a sultry Sunday morning, awaiting the temperature's daily rise to 90+F outside, and just thumbing through the New York Times trying to keep up with world events (I'm a glutton for punishment, but obsessed with trying to figure out just how bad things could get before my time on planet earth expires sometime in the next couple of decades).
Skimming the news and essays I become aware of a couple of current items circulating in our culture at this moment: One, there's a new m…
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Added by John Barrows on August 2, 2009 at 1:06pm —
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Q. Why can't women load dishwashers?
A. I guess because they assume that either their husbands will re-load correctly when they're not looking, or there are magical little robot elves built into the machinery which magically get stuff clean even when stuff is all piled on top of each other.
You got any better ideas?
Q. Why do men re-load the dishwasher after their wives load them.
A. So their wives won't complain that the dishwasher doesn't clean properly and lobby to get a new one.
This ma…
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Added by John Barrows on July 9, 2009 at 12:30pm —
8 Comments
OK, Patrick had his day in the sun with his curly-cue site design. It had its strengths, I admit, but needed a little more "masculinity" (if you know what I mean).
This "look" is called "portobella" ( I assume because of the color). Anyway it reminds me of mushrooms, meatballs, and the good earth. The kinds of simple things that we celebrate here at "How I Taught My Brother to Cook".
Summer is here. The earth is thrusting up its food bounty. Uncle Claude is smiling somewhere in dirt farmer hea…
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Added by John Barrows on July 5, 2009 at 10:52am —
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Love the new look of the site? Thank Patrick. It's the new "femme" thing he's trying out. It's all about reminding us that women can cook, too. And that just because women are discriminated in the workplace (especially when trying to get top chef jobs), we don't discriminate here.
So, Patrick, I love the new femme theme you've picked. Keep up the good work. I think we were all growing a little tired of my more masculine design approach. And stay in tune with your inner "Julia Child". It becomes…
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Added by John Barrows on July 2, 2009 at 4:09pm —
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In Mark Bittman's Wednesday June 10th (2009) "Dining" essay, he describes the modern fish-eater's dillema - i.e what kind of fish is safe, and sustainable, to eat - and how much.
Seems like everything these days is a dilemma - especially things one eats to survive and enjoy life. Guilt, cost, and fear of death from food-borne disease haunt our every day food choices. Why is that?
Well, with more people living on the planet (Catholics, Mormons, and Muslims - among others - don't seem to want to…
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Added by John Barrows on June 14, 2009 at 4:46pm —
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Here's a roast duck.
Here's a deliriously satisfied duck diner! (age 6)
…
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Added by John Barrows on June 7, 2009 at 11:56am —
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This lone poppy appeared in our front garden in time for Memorial Day 2009. Poppies have usually been a symbol of remembrance of people killed in wars. Though some would argue that some wars are necessary, I don't think that anyone could argue that all wars are started by lunatics - an…
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Added by John Barrows on May 25, 2009 at 8:10am —
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A good (relaxing) time was had by all:
…
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Added by John Barrows on May 11, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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In the April 21, 2009 New York Times, Claudia Dreifus interviewed Richard Wrangham, anthropologist and author of a new book:
Catching Fire:How Cooking Made us Human.
In it he posits that it wasn't tool-making that helped our monkeyish ancestors leap forward into humanity quicker (sorry all you "creationists", evolution isn't a theory - it's a fact) - it was the fact that "our large brain and the shape of our bodies are the product of a rich diet that was only available to us after…
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Added by John Barrows on April 26, 2009 at 4:00pm —
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April 19: Portland - at the farmers' market this weekend Nancy volunteered in the Community Gardens' potting booth, to help aspiring gardeners get their newly purchased seedlings in larger pots (many of these folks live in condos as will do their best to grow some things on patios and window sills). Nancy said it was amazing how little a lot of people knew about gardening when they came to the booth for help.
But the point, I guess, is that they were trying. Sure, they've lived the high-living…
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Added by John Barrows on April 19, 2009 at 2:30pm —
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