I know, you think for New Year’s Eve that the combination should be lobster and champagne, but grapefruit pairs beautifully with lobster. In fact, lobster in grapefruit beurre blanc is Chef Bernard Pilon’s favorite dish (don’t miss his all-scallop class on January 23). By request, here is a fabulous menu for tomorrow night: rich and […]

Pull out all the stops for New Year’s Eve with this very elegant lamb dish. Saddle of lamb is the whole loin (which comes from the back of the lamb) — in other words, lamb loin chops that have not been cut up. In beef, this cut is the T-bone or porterhouse steak. Boning the whole loin […]

An elegant dish to serve for the holidays is duck. Since duck parts are not readily available, I have to buy whole ducks and bone them, which is actually an advantage, because one duck can make four dishes. Make duck stock (and then soup) with the bones. Make duck liver pate with the liver. Make duck confit with the […]

A delicious holiday treat is a deep-fried rosette. Better than funnel cakes, these crisp pastries are served hot out of the fryer and dusted with powdered sugar. The batter is simple — a thin crepe-like mixture (flour, egg, and milk). Rosettes can be eaten as is, or used as a cup to hold food (the […]

The number-one job for a blender is crushing ice to make smoothies, milkshakes, and other frozen concoctions. But most blenders cannot handle ice. And most kitchen electrics offer no more than a one-year warranty. Then there is the Vita-Mix, an extraordinary machine with a seven-year warranty. The two-horsepower motor can easily handle ice everyday. The […]

Yes, if you order from Kitchen Conservatory this week, you will get your package by Christmas. Thursday, December 17 (at noon CST) is the last day for us to receive orders and still ship them out to arrive by December 24. If you order after December 17, we strongly urge you to expedite your shipping […]

It isn’t just knives that get dull with use. Graters and peelers dull with use. If the edge drags and you have to push harder, well, it is time to get a new grater and retire the long-suffering rasp to grater glory. Kitchen Conservatory can sharpen knive blades, but not graters. Yes, it is time […]

Are you a planner or are you a last-minute cook? Planners like slow-cookers because they know at breakfast what they are going to eat for tonight’s dinner. They probably also know what they are going to eat a week from tonight. I am not a planner. At 6 pm, I still don’t know what I […]