Today’s inspiration from a busy lifestyle: Mise en place. In French it means “put in place.” In the professional kitchen it refers to all the product a cook needs to wash, cut, chop, portion or cook ahead of time to be able to prepare your meal in a half hour or less. At home it …
Today’s lunchbox of Bahn Mi Lettuce Wraps, includes a wheat-free, slow roasted variation of Sam Sifton’s Vaguely Vietnamese Slow Cooker Pork Tacos. Sifton’s recipe calls for hoisin sauce, which contains wheat, so we substituted tamari (gluten free soy sauce), brown sugar, and some fruit preserves. Since we don’t have a slow cooker, I also modifed the preparation for …
When it comes to seafood, very few things can compare to eating plump fresh diver scallops. Perfectly prepared, they need nothing more than a simple sprinkle of salt and pepper to bring out their subtle salty, sweet flavor. To get that crispy sear on the outside and barely cooked pearly white texture on the inside is not …
Revive leftover risotto with custardy soft scrambled eggs and crispy bacon to make this warm and comforting Sunday breakfast. Butter, rice, onions, chicken stock. Because they are so few, the ingredients you use for your risotto make a huge difference in texture and flavor. I think the most important key to delicious risotto is the stock. It is …
Superbowl Sunday morning, I couldn’t think of a better place to be than sitting on the fire escape, watching smoke billow out of our brand new Big Chief electric smoker. D. set a fan in the window to keep the smoke blowing outward, but that didn’t keep the warm smell of hickory from filling the …
Me: “What if it leaks all over the place?” D: “It always leaks. Even the galettes [the James Beard award nominated pastry chef I used to work for] made always leaked.” Galette is a French term for a free form tart or cake. With my qualms about leakage calmed, D. and I tuned into the … Continue reading
The pressure is on. My Irish American fella signed us up to host a New England boiled dinner for some friends for St. Patrick’s day. Last week I put a beautiful grass fed brisket into brine. Five days later, we did a test run. “So does it taste like what you grew up with?” I asked. … Continue reading
Note: This post and recipe were revised 3/11/2014. Got brisket? Great! Then you still have time to brine your own corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day. Why would you want to brine your own corned beef? Well, one reason might be that you can leave out the nasty nitrates or preservatives. Another reason is you … Continue reading
This is my mantra of the moment. In the last two years I have experienced three of what psychologists deem to be the most stressful life changes. 2012, new relationship (after 15 years) 2013, new home (after 9 years) 2014, new job (soon, after 6 years) plus new home again Interspersed among those were some … Continue reading
With the chill of winter still in the air, we love a good braised Sunday supper. This recipe is a variation on Chinese style red cooked pork, using boneless beef short ribs. Slow cooking in the oven, this one-pot meal fills the apartment with the aroma of slow simmered beef, cinnamon, anise, and five spice. … Continue reading
We are slowly making our way through the suckling pig. On Friday I pulled out one of the shoulders to cure. Thyme, sage, and juniper are traditional additions to the brine, but for a change of pace I used coriander, orange zest, and a little cumin instead. Sunday morning, I washed the shoulder, deboned it, … Continue reading
“I got really sick of salads” – D. describing the last time he did the Atkins diet. True. In the starting phase of the diet it’s easy to get stuck in a rut of making every meal a piece of meat accompanied by a side of approved vegetables or salad, or a salad combining both … Continue reading
