At Home
Linguine with Chorizo & Clams
Wednesday is my Sunday. It’s the only day of the week that I’m sure to be off from work ,and usually all I want to do is relax at home with my cat asleep on my lap, or run around the park with Sadie. So lately, we’ve just been ordering in or eating at someplace [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Char Siu & Chinese Broccoli with Budding Chives
Chinese Style BBQ Roast Pork I have a confession to make. Despite my Asian heritage, I don’t know much about cooking Asian food. Sure, I know how to stir-fry and know how to use the more common Asian ingredients, but Mom’s home cooking was nothing like restaurant food. After years of cooking for myself, then [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 4 so far )Lemon Cucumber & Tomato Salad
My zucchini plants keeled over last week. I had so much hope for them, cared for them, and resisted eating the flowers so that they could produce fruit. Alas, after battling off fungus gnats, aphids, and even maggots, it was stem rot that finally did them in. I stared sadly at the orange fungus that [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 5 so far )Watching the Garden Grow
Yes, outside of working a lot, all I’ve been up to these days is obsessing over my plants. It’s hypnotic, relaxing and exciting all at the same time. Every morning before work I tend to my little urban garden – watering if necessary, and cleaning up any dried leaves and flowers. Afterward, I leave the [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Greenest Fava Beans Ever!
Fava beans, corn, tomatoes…all foods that remind us (in the northeast at least) that summer is just around the corner. For the first time, I used the revered Thomas Keller’s method of cooking fava beens – shuck first, then cook. I first read about it in his interviews in Michael Ruhlman’s Soul of a Chef, [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )April Showers
I had two days off this week – two rainy days. Since I’ve started a little vegetable garden, I am actually appreciating the rainy days. Why? Well, the sunny windowsill in my apartment is getting a little overcrowded with seedlings now and the bigger ones just need to get outdoors. Overcast, slightly rainy days are [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Getting Ready for St. Patrick’s Day
Okay friends, if you’re going to cure your own brisket for St. Patrick’s day Corned Beef and Cabbage, you need to start TODAY. That baby needs at least 5 days of salt-curing before even going into the pot. I may not be of Irish descent, but one of the great things about growing up in [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )A Taste of Mexico: Braised Pork Belly Tacos
I’ve been getting quite the education on Mexican food and culture at work, since many of the kitchen staff and runners are from Mexico. Every Sunday, during their break between brunch and dinner, one of the runners picks up tacos and tortas from a nearby Mexican joint for the staff. My favorite is carnitas, or [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Pies Please
My friend Christine is an avid home baker. We met a few years ago when her husband and I were working at the same firm. His desk was next to mine, and he would regularly rave about her cakes, shortbread, and pies – particularly her peach pie. She recently confided in me that she used [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Home Creamery
It’s been bitterly cold for more than a week now. How cold? Well, let’s just say it got warm enough to snow the other day. It’s the kind of weather that makes you want to stay indoors, curled up in a sunny room with a good book. It just so happens I’ve been curled up [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Comfort Food Pt. 1: Mom’s Mohingha
It’s no secret that keeping restaurant hours makes it difficult to spend time with friends and family. The times when most people are relaxing with their families after a day at work, or sharing a drink and a meal with friends are the times when I am most busy at work. When my fellow cooks [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 5 so far )Customer Service, the Real Deal
Something surprising happened to me today, and the sad part is that it was surprising at all. In my somewhat cynical world view, I had thought customer service to be dead, or simply a policy written by corporate heads, to be followed by middle management in dealing with customer mishaps, often caused by the apathetic [...]
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