Pull up a chair
December 23, 2007
Hi folks, welcome to Scott’s Food Blog. You may be wondering how I arrived at such a creative title for my website. Well, it all started in 1982.
That was the year year I attended La Varenne, the prestigious French cooking school. Unfortunately, I never received a diploma from La Varenne, as I was a fetus during my tenure there. Regardless, I’m convinced that this experience had a lasting impact on my culinary development.
As I grew up, both of my parents taught me the value of cooking for others. I learned how food can unite families and bring friends together. In college, I started cooking as a way to combat the stress of homework. Even though my college kitchen was smaller than most linen closets, I managed to produce some decent food. And once my friends found out there was an alternative to Top Ramen, filling my social calendar was never a problem.
After college, I moved to Washington D.C., where I didn’t know many people. What was a single guy to do? Behold, the power of the dinner party: if you cook it, they will come. A few roasted hens, some wild rice and a cheese plate were effective weapons against solitude, as it turned out.
You can now find me cooking nightly in my home in Seattle. I have a day job, mostly because black truffles don’t grow on trees (figuratively). But, as soon as the weekday is over, I head straight to my kitchen to cook up a storm for my girlfriend and resident guinea pig, Rachel.
So, that’s what I’m about – cooking for others. It’s the way I tell my friends I love them. Hopefully this blog will inspire you to cook for others, and maybe, just maybe, discover the great power of food.
Happy cooking,
Scott Heimendinger
Subscribe to Scott's Food Blog
July 3, 2008 at 6:39 am
no link to subscribe to your blog??!! put one on there so I don’t miss anything!!
July 3, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I’m echoing allison’s remark/question…. newsletter, etc.?
July 4, 2008 at 8:37 am
You asked for it, you got it. Check out the “subscribe” link just below the search box!
July 21, 2008 at 7:23 am
I can vouch for Scott’s La Varenne stint and further attest to his good taste in parents as well as cooking.
It has been a treat to see Scott develop his skills and sense of style, taste, and nuance for food and things foodie. Most of all, I enjoy when Scott comes over and we cook together.
You should all be so lucky.
August 23, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Hey Scott,
It’s been a while since I last visited your site, I have a lot of catching up to do!
Anyway, I like having direct communication to a knowledgeable resource and I’d like to bounce a couple culinary questions off of you…
-I recently acquired a sufficient gas grill. I have been enjoying it so much (that I fear it may soon develop into being a crutch)! On several occasions, I’ve tried to make barbecued pork (ribs and chops). I first sear the meat, then move them to low indirect heat. I then slop on some homemade barbecue sauce. But the sauce never seems to stick to the meat. When I flip the meat, I hear the disappointing hiss of tangy peach barbecue sauce hitting the flame below. Any tips? Perhaps tips on consistency (thick or thin is better?), timing of first baste (baste before sear, after sear, well after sear, etc.), duration (time between bastings).
I recently grilled my first whole bird. It was a roaster chicken, I believe, weighing in at roughly 4 lbs. Because it was my first time, I was kind of improvising. I butterflied it and rubbed an herb butter under the skin and on the skin, let it refrigerate overnight, grilled it and applied a honey balsamic mop sauce to it. It came out fine. But I was wondering if buttering the chicken was an unnecessary step since I was painting it with my sauce. Also, I was wondering if letting the chicken sit overnight with the herb butter was helpful or was useless. The bottom line is that I was pleased with the glazed and crisp skin of the chicken, but the thicker parts of lacked taste towards the center. What would you recommend for this problem, brining perhaps? If I choose to brine, could I also pat it dry and apply a spice rub, let it sit overnight, and THEN grill it? Would this be overkill?
When visiting my girlfriend in NYC, we went to a great Cuban restaurant, Cafe con Leche (80th and Amsterdam). Cramped, loud, ethnic, large portions, outdoor seating…The ideal meal. They accompany no matter what you order with a pleasingly intense garlic dip. It had the consistency of thin tomato sauce, had a slightly acidic bite, and was a pure ivory/white color. I forgot to ask for the name, but from what I gather, it was just a garlic mojo. However, the garlic mojo recipes I find online call for orange juice, which would detract from the ivory color that this dip had. Any ideas on the composition?
I know I kind of blitzkrieg’ed you with questions and ramblings, sorry! Whenever you get a chance, I’d like to hear your thoughts on these matters as well as anything else culinary!
-Chris