In the category of random shout-outs: This past weekend I had some friends over for dinner and decided to try out some recipes from A Platter of Figs. There are no leftovers. I took no pictures. But that’s not the point.

The point is: David Tanis, I salute you. My friends now have totally overblown perceptions of my culinary abilities. They pretty much think I’m a genius, and that I’m constantly going around behind their backs, secretly cooking awesome meals for myself and some other group of secret friends. The truth? Unlike the blogorific Sarah, whose casual assessment of her slightly involved weeknight creations betrays a Total Kitchen Mastery, I tend to cycle through a fairly limited repertoire. It might go something like this: Rice and beans. Pasta (with whatever I can scrounge). Omelet. Takeout. (Okay, I probably have takeout twice a week. But who’s counting.)

To reiterate, if it isn’t clear from my rice and beans rundown: My skills, they are basic.

But armed with David’s cookbook, I was somehow able to fool my friends into thinking I really knew what I was doing.

The Menu

Cherry Tomato Crostini with Ricotta

Roasted Salmon with Herbed Cucumber Salad

Blueberry-Blackberry Crumble

(Though it wasn’t in The Book, I also threw in some boiled new potatoes with olive oil and chives; in my opinion, you can never have enough starch.)

The Difficulty Meter

So easy! I drizzled the salmon with olive oil and chucked it in the oven. I chopped up cucumbers and herbs and dressed them with olive oil and lemon. The only slightly labor-intensive element was the prepping of the crostini—but so worth it. I already knew that crumbles were great desserts for cooks who can’t even handle chocolate chip cookies. But the berries really took it to the next level.

The Critical Reception

“This is officially our favorite place to come for dinner.”“I can’t stop eating the crostini.” “I didn’t know you were, like, a chef.” And, “Who finished the crumble?”

Their enthusiasm was such that, to tell the truth, I kind of felt like a fraud. I kept having to say, “I swear, it’s not me, it’s the cookbook.” They were almost angry with me for being so good, like I had been pretending to be one of them all along, when in fact, I was something much, much better.

Full disclosure: The salmon was not wild, nor was anything organic. I know that’s a betrayal of one of the book’s central tenets, and I hope David Tanis will forgive me. But wild salmon for six people would have cost over $60… I don’t like my friends that much!

When we arrived at The Girls’ Guide to Rocking cover photo shoot, we were ready to do some serious styling.

To our surprise, 14-year-old model Shayanne walked in already looking like a rock star, with wrist cuffs, pocket chains, and a studded skull belt to boot. We were able to send her right into the first shot without changing a thing–a historic moment!

It’s always a pleasure when a model can connect with a project in terms of style and attitude and jump right in, and that she did. She jumped, and kicked, and screamed, all in the name of rock.

Photographer Gabrielle Revere, who has shot artists such as Avril Lavigne and Carrie Underwood, captured Shayanne’s inner (and outer!) rock star, with her Papillon assistant Bijou by her side.

The shots came out so well that they ended up not only on the cover, but also on the back cover, inside pages, and even on the spine of the book.

Check out The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, in stores later this month!

Click here to read an excerpt from The Girls’ Guide to Rocking.

Growing up I always thought my mom wasn’t cool because she used a homemade chimney starter to light the charcoal in her grill.  That was two major strikes against her: charcoal instead of gas, and a chimney starter instead of lighter fluid.

Now that I’ve spent the last few months learning from the master griller Steven Raichlen, I realize my mom was not lame at all.  She knew that grilling with charcoal can produce complex, rich, smoky flavors that gas can’t duplicate.

It’s that same pure charcoal grilling that’s going to drive my Memorial Day cookout. I’m taking inspiration from Steven’s Ultimate Grilling Menu to impress my friends this year. We’re not only going to grill with coals, but right on them! We are tossing the grate aside and throwing steak on the coals, corn on the coals, and pretty much everything else that looks fresh and hearty at the farmer’s market–right on the coals.

Hopefully my guests will leave with ideas of their own, and then enter them in Steven’s Ultimate Grilling Recipe Contest. I know my hungry friends have some clever ideas brewing. How about you?

Delicious recipes for Memorial Day grilling
Caveman T-Bones With Hellfire Hot Sauce (on the coals)
Mussels Grilled on a Bed of Flaming Pine Needles
How to Grill Corn

“Fear grows in darkness;
if you think there’s a bogeyman around,
turn on the light.”

-DOROTHY THOMPSON

“Worry gives a small thing a big shadow.”
-SWEDISH PROVERB

Workman designer Mike Vago spent middle school study-hall periods mapping out elaborate miniature golf courses, thus giving birth years later to The Miniature Book of Miniature Golf. Here’s a brief interview with Mr. Vago.

Q: What’s the most difficult hole in the book?
A: Hole 6 is a hedge maze, so it’s intended to be done in 7 to 10 shots. It’s not a tricky shot in the classic sense, it’s just long and there’s no way to drive straight to the hole.

Q: Say a bookseller decides to take a copy of your book off the shelf and play it instead of doing returns. What’s a notable score?
A: As a former bookseller, I can say I’d never do such a thing, mostly because it would cut into my time spent reading X-Men comics on the job. But if one were to. . . Par for the course is 29, and if you can shoot under par, you may want to consider a career on the professional book-sized mini golf circuit.

Q: Any problems with gophers eating the book?
A: Nothing a little dynamite can’t solve.

Q: I understand that Tiger Woods requested that your book be included on the PGA Tour.
A: It is! Who would believe it? And to think I totally made that up.

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

I already had a bag of dried guajillo chiles from Penzey’s hanging out in my freezer, so when I spotted the recipe for PRIYANKA’S SHRIMP in Raghavan Iyer’s vibrant book 660 Curries, I knew I’d found my next blog-post subject.

Shrimp are tasty and quick cooking—perfect for weeknight meals. They’ve gotten some bad press for being high in cholesterol, but it turns out that their unhealthy reputation is wholly undeserved. If you can, spring for domestic, not imported, shrimp. For both wild-caught and farmed varieties, U.S. producers must adhere to stricter environmental standards than their counterparts in other countries. (For all you need to know about the sustainability of shrimp and other seafood, check out Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Guide.)

This recipe is a snap to make, but its flavors are captivating and complex. It is rich and smoky (but barely spicy) from the guajillos and assertively garlickly, with an undercurrent of sweetness from the caramelized onions and coconut. Served with aromatic basmati rice, PRIYANKA’S SHRIMP is a delicious and out-of-the-ordinary mid-week dinner.

PRIYANKA’S SHRIMP

4 dried guajillo chiles, stems removed
¼ cup shredded fresh coconut; or 2 tablespoons shredded dried unsweetened coconut, reconstituted
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon tamarind paste or concentrate
4 medium-size cloves garlic
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large red onion, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 pound large shrimp (16-20 per pound), peeled and deveined but tails left on
1 teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves

1.) Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chiles and toast them, shaking the pan frequently and turning them over occasionally so that all sides turn a darker shade of red, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the chiles to a blender jar and pour in ½ cup water. Add the coconut, coriander seeds, tamarind paste, and garlic. Puree, scraping the inside of the jar as needed, to make a thick, reddish-brown paste, packed with gusto.

2.) Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, cover the skillet, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and turns caramel-brown with a deep purple hue, 15 to 20 minutes.

3.) Add the paste to the skillet, and then add the shrimp and salt. Stir once or twice. Cover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are salmon-orange, curled, and tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

4.) Sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.

Note: To reconstitute coconut, cover with 2 tablespoons boiling water, set aside for about 15 minutes, and then drain.

Take a peek inside the New Haven studio of Rufus Butler Seder, author of the wonderful and amazing children’s books Gallop! and Swing!

Here he is at work on his Life Tiles, the life-sized medium on which the Scanimation process that animates Gallop and Swing was based.

The creation process is no less mysterious now, but infinitely cooler. (Or, rather, hotter!)

Artisan is happy to announce that at the James Beard Awards, BEYOND THE GREAT WALL: Recipes and Travels in the Other China, by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, won in its category, Best International Cookbook of 2008!

This is Jeffrey and Naomi’s second big victory this spring, having won in the same category last month from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Congratulations, Jeffrey and Naomi!

Also a winner, for Best Wine Service, was Aldo Sohm, the sommelier at Le Bernardin in New York.

Artisan’s ON THE LINE, by Eric Ripert and Christine Muhlke, gives you a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make Le Bernardin a four-star restaurant year after year.

You can read about Aldo Sohm and his award-winning wine service on pages 128-131.

Congratulations, Aldo, Chef Ripert, and the staff at Le Bernardin!