Eating In Archive

  • I can tell we’re specializing here in dishes that look really cook and impressive but in fact are easy to through together. In fact Monday’s dinner was simple from top to bottom, from the braised scallops to the blueberry cheesecake ice cream (stay tuned for those recipes). The roasted baby artichokes were the dish that took the most prep, but even then, the actual making is simple. And with the instructions in my trusty copy of Saveur (which had a great feature on artichokes a while back), it’s a cinch to prep the baby artichokes. Basically for each baby artichoke,...

    Roasted Baby Artichokes with a Garlicy Twist

    Posted on 2010.02.17 | No Comments
    I can tell we’re specializing here in dishes that look really cook and impressive but in fact are easy to through together. In fact Monday’s dinner was simple from top to bottom, from the braised scallops to the blueberry cheesecake ice cream (stay tuned for those recipes). The roasted baby artichokes were the dish that took the most prep, but even then, the actual making is simple. And with the instructions in my trusty copy of Saveur (which had a great feature on artichokes a while back), it’s a cinch to prep the baby artichokes. Basically for each baby artichoke,...

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  • For Chinese New Year we decided to go with a Chinese soup — of Teo Chew origin, with some Hokkien in there too — so well tied to our heritage. It's essentially a big bowl of pork spare ribs, boiled up in all those spices so they penetrate the meat. And I have been craving it all winter. And here I will admit to some laziness. Because while I'm sure there are many recipes to be found (and include ingredients such as ginseng, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic according to Wikipedia), I took the total...

    Sunday Dinner: Bah Kut Teh

    Posted on 2010.02.14 | 1 Comment
    For Chinese New Year we decided to go with a Chinese soup — of Teo Chew origin, with some Hokkien in there too — so well tied to our heritage. It's essentially a big bowl of pork spare ribs, boiled up in all those spices so they penetrate the meat. And I have been craving it all winter. And here I will admit to some laziness. Because while I'm sure there are many recipes to be found (and include ingredients such as ginseng, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic according to Wikipedia), I took the total...

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  • Sunchokes may also be known as Jerusalem Artichokes, but they are no artichoke. In fact they are all brown and knobby and look a lot more like overgrown ginger (but don’t taste like ginger) than anything else. I feel like we’ve been seeing sunchokes everywhere (Top Chef anyone?). Lately they’ve been all over restaurant menus too — from fried to pureed — which I really enjoyed — and I was excited to see the sunchoke recipe in the latest issue of Fine Cooking. I whipped up a bunch of the roasted sunchokes with artichoke hearts today during the Super Bowl...

    Sunday Dinner: Sunchokes

    Posted on 2010.02.07 | No Comments
    Sunchokes may also be known as Jerusalem Artichokes, but they are no artichoke. In fact they are all brown and knobby and look a lot more like overgrown ginger (but don’t taste like ginger) than anything else. I feel like we’ve been seeing sunchokes everywhere (Top Chef anyone?). Lately they’ve been all over restaurant menus too — from fried to pureed — which I really enjoyed — and I was excited to see the sunchoke recipe in the latest issue of Fine Cooking. I whipped up a bunch of the roasted sunchokes with artichoke hearts today during the Super Bowl...

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  • I have a ton of cookbooks. Maybe not 101 Cookbooks, but I counted the other day and there are definitely 70+. I love reading about food almost as much as eating (okay, well maybe not quite that much). But how many cookbooks do I actually use? Sad to say, it’s actually a pretty short list of our “go-to” books, with only occasional side-trips to the other many books on the shelf. And I’m finding that even more so now that I’m trying to report in regularly on our meals… lots of repetitive references. So, without further ado… books that keep...

    Cookbooks in Current Rotation

    Posted on 2010.02.03 | No Comments
    I have a ton of cookbooks. Maybe not 101 Cookbooks, but I counted the other day and there are definitely 70+. I love reading about food almost as much as eating (okay, well maybe not quite that much). But how many cookbooks do I actually use? Sad to say, it’s actually a pretty short list of our “go-to” books, with only occasional side-trips to the other many books on the shelf. And I’m finding that even more so now that I’m trying to report in regularly on our meals… lots of repetitive references. So, without further ado… books that keep...

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  • We try to incorporate a lot of interesting whole grains into our diet — and quinoa is one of our favorites. But just boiling it up and tossing in some salt, pepper and oil is not that interesting, and even the lusciousness of tossing in some easily melting cheese like crescenza gets repetitive. So when I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Fine Cooking, I couldn’t wait to try it. I whipped up a batch as the side dish for our dinner tonight (braised short ribs again — I meant to do tequila-braise but we ended up with...

    Sunday Dinner: Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Dried Fruit and Lemon-Cumin Vinaigrette

    Posted on 2010.01.31 | No Comments
    We try to incorporate a lot of interesting whole grains into our diet — and quinoa is one of our favorites. But just boiling it up and tossing in some salt, pepper and oil is not that interesting, and even the lusciousness of tossing in some easily melting cheese like crescenza gets repetitive. So when I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Fine Cooking, I couldn’t wait to try it. I whipped up a batch as the side dish for our dinner tonight (braised short ribs again — I meant to do tequila-braise but we ended up with...

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  • On Sunday it was rainy and dreary and we just didn't feel like heading out for lunch. All the fresh ingredients in the house were destined for other meals this week. So I decided to put my "semi-homemade" hat on and see what I could whip up just from what was in the pantry. The result was farro spaghetti tossed in brown-butter-sage-butter-fried white beans and butternut squash sauce. It was luscious, rich and hearty… with a touch of sweetness from the squash, and nuttiness from the brown butter. Actually, it tasted sort of like inside-out butternut squash ravioli. Yum. Quick...

    From the cJ Pantry: Butternut Squash Brown Butter Sage Love

    Posted on 2010.01.24 | No Comments
    On Sunday it was rainy and dreary and we just didn't feel like heading out for lunch. All the fresh ingredients in the house were destined for other meals this week. So I decided to put my "semi-homemade" hat on and see what I could whip up just from what was in the pantry. The result was farro spaghetti tossed in brown-butter-sage-butter-fried white beans and butternut squash sauce. It was luscious, rich and hearty… with a touch of sweetness from the squash, and nuttiness from the brown butter. Actually, it tasted sort of like inside-out butternut squash ravioli. Yum. Quick...

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  • I’ve been in love with Fine Cooking’s Cauliflower Soup with Marcona Almond and Piquillo Pepper Relish since finding it in the December issue last year and whipping up a batch for the holidays. Who wouldn’t love a recipe that’s super easy to whip up but tastes elegant and exquisite? With the added bonus of being “customizable” to taste with your personal amount of relish? The recipe suggests orange cauliflower, but when I saw this beautiful head of purple cauliflower at the store, I couldn’t resist the thought of a bowl of lavender soup.  The only question was, would the color...

    Sunday Dinner: OMG What’s That? Soup

    Posted on 2010.01.18 | No Comments
    I’ve been in love with Fine Cooking’s Cauliflower Soup with Marcona Almond and Piquillo Pepper Relish since finding it in the December issue last year and whipping up a batch for the holidays. Who wouldn’t love a recipe that’s super easy to whip up but tastes elegant and exquisite? With the added bonus of being “customizable” to taste with your personal amount of relish? The recipe suggests orange cauliflower, but when I saw this beautiful head of purple cauliflower at the store, I couldn’t resist the thought of a bowl of lavender soup.  The only question was, would the color...

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  • They may not look very attractive, but they smell AWESOME. Recipe adapted using Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio cookbook. Slightly less butter because I wanted less spread. 1 1/2 sticks of butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 large egg I didn’t have any vanilla left or ordinarily I would have added it. Next time. all mixed up, and then folding in 1 1/2 cups of flour Pinch of salt 1 tsp of baking powder and then folded in 1 cup of Recchuiti’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pearls. I wanted to make smaller cookies so I went with heaping teaspoonfuls...

    Mini-Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Pearl Cookies

    Posted on 2009.12.16 | No Comments
    They may not look very attractive, but they smell AWESOME. Recipe adapted using Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio cookbook. Slightly less butter because I wanted less spread. 1 1/2 sticks of butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 large egg I didn’t have any vanilla left or ordinarily I would have added it. Next time. all mixed up, and then folding in 1 1/2 cups of flour Pinch of salt 1 tsp of baking powder and then folded in 1 cup of Recchuiti’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pearls. I wanted to make smaller cookies so I went with heaping teaspoonfuls...

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  • I haven’t made pie very many times in my life. But today we had some of Gus’s students over for a mini-holiday party — putting up the Xmas tree — so I thought I’d go out on a limb and whip up a pie. I was intrigued by the Brown Butter Pecan Pie from “I Made That” because I love pecan pie — and I love brown butter even more. It was my first attempt at following Ruhlman’s Ratio: 3-2-1 flour-fat-liquid crust recipe. It was easy to follow, and the dough came out well, even if it doesn’t look that...

    Holiday Eating: Brown Butter Pecan Pie

    Posted on 2009.12.06 | No Comments
    I haven’t made pie very many times in my life. But today we had some of Gus’s students over for a mini-holiday party — putting up the Xmas tree — so I thought I’d go out on a limb and whip up a pie. I was intrigued by the Brown Butter Pecan Pie from “I Made That” because I love pecan pie — and I love brown butter even more. It was my first attempt at following Ruhlman’s Ratio: 3-2-1 flour-fat-liquid crust recipe. It was easy to follow, and the dough came out well, even if it doesn’t look that...

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  • Tonight: Grilled quail, one of my favorite discoveries of this year. Super easy and seemingly always good. And people always seem impressed because quail is one of those “fancy” food items you don’t usually think about doing at home. But it’s fun. What’s not to like about eating the miniature bird? The meat is tender and moist, and full of flavor. The skin too, especially with the tasty marinade below. Recipe from Bones. Quail purchased today from the meat shop at Cafe Rouge on Fourth St in Berkeley. Quail were pre-butterflied (split open) but it’s easy enough to do at...

    Sunday Dinner: Grilled Quail with Sage Butter

    Posted on 2009.11.08 | No Comments
    Tonight: Grilled quail, one of my favorite discoveries of this year. Super easy and seemingly always good. And people always seem impressed because quail is one of those “fancy” food items you don’t usually think about doing at home. But it’s fun. What’s not to like about eating the miniature bird? The meat is tender and moist, and full of flavor. The skin too, especially with the tasty marinade below. Recipe from Bones. Quail purchased today from the meat shop at Cafe Rouge on Fourth St in Berkeley. Quail were pre-butterflied (split open) but it’s easy enough to do at...

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