Burnt Offerings

 

In any good kitchen, there is always that cook who is ready to jump at the first cry for help -- such is also true where kitchens meet, food52! Burnt Offerings is one of those cooks -- she offers helpful advice on foodpickles, recipes, and blog posts of all sorts. Her enthusiasm abounds -- it doesn't surprise us at all that she works professionally in healthcare and teaches kids to cook in Essex, VT each summer.

Burnt Offerings earned her stripes with our bulk bin challenge in which she had three recipes -- Red Bean Espresso Brownies, Red Rice and Beans, and Split Pea Soup for a Winter's Day -- chosen as Editors' Picks. And so, it makes sense that Burnt Offerings came from "the kind of family that sits around planning the next meal or two while [they're] cooking the current one." Anyone who can bake beans into brownies with success (they're actually good!) deserves MVP status -- talk about a team player in the game of beans and grains. 

What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
Bamboo worms and crickets in China, Sweet yak's milk butter tea in Western China, Wichity Grubs in Australia

What do you cook when home alone?
Risotto, curries, and soups in the winter. Anything grilled in the summer.

Your most treasured kitchen possession:
A good knife and my immersion blender

Your ideal meal:
Rack of lamb, wild mushroom risotto, a wonderful salad and a perfect glass of wine.

Something you'd like a chance to eat or cook:
A whole roast pig - Asian style. I would also love to buy a whole pig and break it down into charcuterie: sausages, bacon, head cheese, prosciutto, pancetta, etc...

The number of bottles of wine you own:
At any given time - about a case

The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
8

Kitchen pet peeve:
Only one oven, and it's not gas

Your favorite cookbook:
I like to collect cookbooks. I try to buy one or two whenever I travel, so I have some really great ones from Australia, China, Europe, the Carribean. Even regional cookbooks from Louisiana, the Southwest, Portland OR, and San Francisco. I'm amazed at the diversity of food in our country and around the world.