Chicken Salad with Vermouth and Paprika
I am married to somebody who is deeply interested in plants. This is not an interest I share. Nor do plants seem interested in me. Vita at Sissinghurst I am not. Last weekend, John wisely accepted my advice and brought a plant whisperer to our yard. The two of them…
Gong Bao Chicken
According to Fuchsia Dunlop, the precise origins of Gong Bao Chicken are unknown. We do know the dish is named after Ding Baozhen, who governed China’s Sichuan province during the Qing Dynasty. As Ding Baozhen was very fond of eating this dish, the chicken was cut into very small pieces to…
Bademiya’s Justly Famous Chicken
Anyone who cooks maintains a mental recipe box. Organization methods vary, but it’s safe to say everyone’s box shares the following categories: -will cook this someday -delicious but too expensive/work intensive to prepare on a regular basis -holiday set pieces that cannot be changed -Wednesday night specials: dull but easily…
Chicken with Marsala, Mushrooms, and Olives
I am not somebody who spends her time wondering whether beets might snuggle up to pomegranates, creating a novel salad. Or tasty new ways with quinoa. Instead, I do lots of wheelchair jenga. (Not wheelchair jenga.) Saturdays mean soccer practice. I rise early and head out to the garage, where…
Kitchen Note: Rage, Despair, and Baking
Recent events have left me careering between rage and despair. Occasionally there’s a comparatively calm moment of depression, a lull in the mental action, before some tidbit of horrible news sends me bouncing off the walls again. Writing is nearly impossible. How do you sit down and write: “Today I…
Oven Baked Chicken Fingers
In addition to being something of a food snob, your hostess is suffering recipe fatigue. She is heartily sick of recipes for s’mores, acai bowls, and anything involving avocado. She doesn’t want to see any more recipes using the words healthy or clean. Surely she isn’t alone in this? It…
Kurdish Fried Chicken
Last weekend the IK attempted to update her computer. The last time she tried doing so, the hard drive crashed. This time, she discovered the external hard drive she’d purchased less than a year ago had ceased functioning. In September 2016. As in, the IK’s computer had not been backed up…
Simple Chicken with Salsa
The ideal blog is flush with tempting meal options. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, low-fat, low-carb, no-carb, chosen from every cuisine under the sun–with a scattering of pomegranate seeds for good measure. Scan the options during your lunch hour, rush home, and get cooking. This is not that blog. Instead, it’s…
Chicken with Mushrooms and Marsala
We call ourselves the weird disease couple. I mean, how many people do you know who can say they host both neuromuscular and collagen disease under one roof? People, we are messed up and we’re proud. Well, we try to be. (Your intrepid couple. Two weeks ago, they took it…
Cauliflower Potato Soup
Before going any further, Congratulations to Annelies Zijderveld for the IACP member of the year award and to Naomi Duguid for winning the IACP Culinary Travel Award. I have the uniquely good fortune of knowing both authors. Congratulations to all the winners. — Cauliflower is having a moment. It’s the reigning…










