Book Review: Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

Book Review: Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

I’m on a book craze right now and can’t stop stuffing my face with awesome literature. I recently finished reading An Edge in the Kitchen by Chad Ward and immediately after finishing, I picked up Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman which I quickly devoured in each spare minute that I had. In my opinion, Ratio should be required reading for anybody who cooks in the kitchen.

On Goodreads, I gave this book a 5-star rating. It’s awesome. Really.

The purpose behind Ratio is to enlighten and teach the home cook about the fundamentals of cooking in the kitchen. Sounds boring, I know, but the concept of ratios is simply fascinating. It’s not as if cooking with ratios is a super-duper, ultra-guarded secret (because it’s not), but interesting enough, it’s not well known among home cooks. Knowing ratios gives you the power to ditch the recipes, grow some wings, and fly! It won’t be long before you’re creating recipes of your own. In fact, using his custard ratios, I created a tasty (and interesting) vanilla peach custard. I’ll post the recipe once I refine it a bit. It was my first ever attempt at custard, but I could do it thanks to being taught simple custard ratios.

Let’s explore some of the fascinating aspects of Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio.
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Book Review: An Edge in the Kitchen by Chad Ward

Book Review: An Edge in the Kitchen by Chad Ward

This year I decided to spend my birthday money on kitchen stuff that I’ve had my eyes on. I wound up with some awesome kitchen tools and some more books which I’ve been wanting to read and study for a while, among those books was An Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives by Chad Ward (affiliate link). Using a 5-star rating method, I’d give it a 4 out of 5; using a 10-star rating method, I’d give it a 7 out of 10.

Chad Ward is a knife nerd, seriously; his kitchen knife expertise makes those of us who frequently use our kitchen knives and already know a moderate amount about them realize that we’ve been playing in the kiddy pool most of our lives. Although his book has quite a bit of “geek speak” in it as it relates to kitchen knives, metallurgy, and whatnot, it’s a pleasure to read and is easy to understand. And, as Chad says, once you learn the terminology you can impress all your friends and the guy behind the knife counter with your wisdom (extra bonus!).

The hard part now is figuring out where to begin…
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Tapatio Doritios, Tapatio Fritos, and Tapatio & Lime Ruffles Reviewed

Tapatio Doritios, Tapatio Fritos, and Tapatio & Lime Ruffles Reviewed

Author’s note: Frito lay asked that I review these chips. They provided the chips, but no other compensation was given. Enjoy!

Not too long ago, I received a request from Frito-Lay to review some of their new chips that will be hitting the market this month. Naturally, I’m always curious to know what’s new so I accepted and a few days later, courtesy of Frito-Lay, a box arrived at my door with three bags of their new flavors.

It was hard to contain my delight when I opened the box and found that the new flavor was none other but Tapatio. Tapatio and I have a deep-rooted partnership. You can read about it here. I’m sure that the Chip Gods were smiling when Frito-Lay and Tapatio hot sauce formed this partnership.

One at a time, I pulled out each new, shiny bag of chips. Doritos, Fritos, and Ruffles. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven, especially seeing that the Ruffles had lime mixed in. Tapatio and lime are one of my all-time favorite flavor combinations—nearly impossible to resist.

It was tough not to rip open a bag immediately and just stuff my face, but I wanted to share my excitement with someone else—the guy who introduced me to Tapatio—none other than my own hermano. So, with great hesitation, I placed the bags above my refrigerator (had to protect them from the kids, you know) and waited for a couple days so that SkinnyD and I could get together and experience the madness together.

Those were a long two days, but it finally arrived. We met up at his house and commenced our review. We recorded it on video, but due to some techincal difficulties in editing, it might not get posted. BUT! I’ve still taken the time to write out what I thought as we tested each new chip.
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Tapatio Hot Sauce… I’m Addicted to You…

Tapatio Hot Sauce… I’m Addicted to You…

I enjoy watching other people eat hot stuff, but when it comes to me eating spicy hot stuff—you’d better have a pretty good bribe ready. I’ve had my share of spicy foods and know my limits. Besides the heartburn aftermath, I’ve never enjoyed eating things so spicy that I can’t taste the food’s natural flavors.

That’s why I hesitated to try Tapatio for the first time…

My brother claimed it was the shizzle and had nearly polished off a full bottle by himself. We have pretty similar tastes and that’s what pushed me over the edge. I held the bottle close to my face and inspected the ingredients: water, red peppers, garlic, salt, various spices, sodium benzoate… despite it probably being loaded with preservatives, I figured it was okay to consume. At least there wasn’t a hidden chiltepe in there. I hate those little pepper bombs of death.
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