Cooking with gas

I had dinner this evening with Matt Brailey and his wife and two of his friends. He made London broil with his own special marinade. His wife is seven months pregnant. I've known Matt since junior high school, but I haven't seen him in years. The last time was a snowy day when he was visiting New York. It was a miserably cold day and after wandering around the Times Square area, we took a train down to University and had sushi.

His house is a craftsman home built in the arts and crafts style. It dates back to around 1912. The living room and dining room are beautiful. The rest of the house wraps around these rooms. Their second floor functions as a separate apartment. They're currently renting it out to a friend of theirs. The occupant is engaged, but as a strict Roman Catholic won't cohabitate with her fiance until he is her husband.

Dinner was delicious. The asparagus was especially tasty, and Matt taught me how to know where to cut the stalks (you cut at the breaking point). He also introduced me to a magazine called Cook's Illustrated, which he described as the Consumer Reports of cooking. They try variations on recipes in order to create the best final result. Along the way they describe their methods and why various attempts work or don't. I'm thinking of subscribing and amassing my own collection. Matt warned me that it works best for western dishes; the more ethnic attempts are somewhat half-hearted. Posted by eku at June 9, 2004 3:23 AM