Stir-Fried Green Beans with Rice Cake
Stir-Fried Green Beans With Rice Cake is a compromise dish. Compromise because Mr. IK loves green beans while your hostess does not. She will, however, eat just about anything that’s been stir-fried. Now, I saw some of you flinch at the rice cake. Rice cakes are available at Asian markets,…
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…
Lamb Chops with Sumac
Should your fingers do this–that is, roll inward and sometimes lock–you’ll be forced to stop whatever you’re doing, put down/let go of whatever you might be holding, and unlock the offending finger(s) with your free hand. As you might imagine, this isn’t always a realistic proposition. One cannot stop whatever…
Caregiver’s Noodles
You’re wondering what these are. These thigmajigs, scmetchiks, whaddayacallits, are a crucial part of a wheelchair user’s day–that is, if the wheelchair user has a “swing-away” style footrest on his chair. The above objects are called endcaps. Their job is to hold wheelchair footrests in place while allowing them to…
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…
Kitchen Note: repairing Pot Au Feu
Why not start with a nice NorCal flower picture? I was trying to take flower pictures the other day, and this seems like a good excuse to use them. Here’s another. You may be wondering flowers have to with pot au feu, or boiled beef. Nothing. They’re just pretty in…
Kitchen Note: Pickled Lemons. Picked Garlic. Migraines.
So, if you’re American, on American soil, chances are good you’ve come through Thanksgiving. Congratulations. So, this migraine. There are migraines, and migraines. If you are a migraineur, you’re like, if she’s typing, it cannot be that bad. And you’re right: some migraines, it’s puke your way to the ER,…
Rick Bayless’s Tomatillo Braised Pork Loin
No one understands and appreciates the American Dream of hard work leading to material rewards better than a non-American. The Ecuadorian, Mexican, Dominican, and Salvadorian cooks I’ve worked with over the years make most CIA-educated white boys look like clumsy, sniveling little punks. Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential Dishwashers are God’s…
Corn Cakes
So much of life is ridiculous, right? You’re driving while wolfing lunch. Suddenly the idiot in front of you, who you just know is texting, lurches to a stop. Your carefully arranged lunch, which you so artfully wedged into the cupholder, goes flying, landing upside down on the shirt you…
Artichokes, Fava Bean and Pea Salad
This morning found me with my head wedged in the oven. Despite my comparatively petite size, I was unable to squeeze in far enough. In an attempt to gain better purchase, I pulled the lower oven rack out. There. Perfect. Tweezers in hand, I wormed myself back in and got…