Recipe Failures
Hi–it’s been a while. Sorry for that. The above is a banana blossom. Either you’re totally familiar with these or you’ve never seen one in your life. Until recently, I fell into the latter camp. Banana blossoms are beautiful, so of course I wanted to try cooking with one. To…
Pasta, peas, and proscuitto
Never has writing about food felt more futile, privileged, or frankly ridiculous. Having said that, capitulate and the bad guys win. We don’t want that. Here are some ways to help: The American Civil Liberties Union Moveon.org raicestexas.org National Immigrant Justice Center/Immigrantjustice.org Amnesty International — Pasta, peas, and prosciutto began…
After Anthony (Macau-Style Pork Burgers)
Anthony Bourdain’s recipes were so deeply enmeshed in my kitchen life that I gave them little thought, which is to say I took them, and their author, for granted. I don’t apologize for that. It didn’t make me feel any better when I heard the news. — Macau-Style Pork Burgers…
Mexican-Style Ground Beef
Mexican-style ground beef–a terrible title for an excellent dish–came about by accident. So many recipes do around here. After a recipe fail, a plumbing mishap, and the last-minute cancellation of oral surgery, dinnertime had the temerity to roll around. Your hostess was on prep duty. Of course. The IK currently…
The Wacky Cake: Not My Grandmother’s Bundt
Bill LeBlond, editorial director of Chronicle Books, once told a crowd at a cookbook proposal seminar that if he had to read one more book proposal from people who learned about cooking at their grandmothers’ knee, he would throw up. Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food I spent a lot…
(Fake) Thai Drunken Noodles
Why Fake Thai Drunken Noodles? Well, I’ve never been to Thailand. (And how I long to go.) And it must be sadly admitted that, much as I passionately love Asian food, I am a Eastern European Jew, through and through. (In the past two weeks, we’ve had some rain…which led…
Miniature Chocolate Cakes
Years ago, while writing an article on holiday cookies, I consulted The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook. Stewart assume a readership whose kitchens are stocked like a Sur Le Table outlet: cake pans in every possible size and shape, pizza stones, candy thermometers, pastry bags, sugar combs, a willing staff ready to…
Mandarin Beef Stir Fry
So, hi. It’s a new year. The holidays are behind us. However you spent the past week, we can all heave a sigh of relief: the fuss is over until next December. You’re wondering about the stir-fry. Even as we vaccuum up those pesky Evergreen needles, here I am, fussing…
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…
Pork Belly with Mustard and Potatoes
A more organized blogger would follow her pork rib curry recipe with something other than a pork belly roast. You know, somebody who is not me. A more organized blogger would also be on top of the weather report, realizing temperatures would soar into the high eighties this final week…