Red Velvet Cake and Beta Cooks, NY Times Dining in 60 seconds

by Nicole Weston, Posted Feb 14th 2007 @ 10:34AM

Red velvet cake is, for some reason, often considered to be a retro, trashy sort of cake in spite of the fact that it is wildly popular at bakeries these days. The best cakes have a moist and tender crumb, as well as a hint of cocoa. The color can range from Marilyn red to deep mahogany and is typically made with food coloring, although those chefs who are overly concerned with making everything over-the-top natural use beets to color theirs. If the whole cake is just too much for you, you can always try red velvet cupcakes or sandwich cookies.

Beta cook disorder is a condition that arises in chefs when their partner is too dominant in the kitchen, constantly second guessing everything they do and ordering them around. Power struggles, it seems, come out in the kitchen more often than anywhere else, but by consciously working together - with an open dialog - mini dictatorships can be avoided and you'll have just enough hands stirring the pot.

Paul Bocuse, one of the greatest French chefs there is, just celebrated his 80th birthday with a huge, three-day party and a list of A-list chefs both as guests and in the kitchen.

Winter comfort food is even better it you can get it done quickly with no loss of flavor, like Baked Beans with Bacon in 2 hours, instead of 10.

Frank Bruni dines at Pera Mediterranean Brasserie and Dennis Foy, giving each one star.

Mark Bittman, the minimalist, makes stuffed chicken thighs.

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Filed Under: Newspapers, In Sixty Seconds, Retro cookery
Tags: bittma, bruni, dining, food section, new york times, ny times, nyt, NyTimes, red velvet cake, retro food