Am I mad?! I’m pulling a full Jamie Oliver and I know it. I’m even excited about it. If you aren’t aware of the clamor from the entire
Quick Dinners
Dinners I through together off the cuff quickly that are super yummy.
Saag Paneer
Fresh from a trip to London and inspired by my penultimate meal of Indian food, I needed saag paneer. Fresh, homemade, cheese made from whole milk, made golden
Spicy Pork with quinoa, mushrooms and kale
I am not lying when I say that this is the quickest meal that I’ve cooked, from scratch of course. Yes, I am going on the record to
Comfort food congee
Ok this gets written before I pass out completely from jet lag. I just got back from a trip to Amsterdam and Copenhagen with my sister and brother
Slow cooker chicken chili
Full disclosure: this will be a short post and mostly me raving about how great this recipe from Smitten Kitchen is. In addition, if I didn’t take advantage
Bonkers bread & butter panettone pudding tart
Jamie Oliver couldn’t have have picked a better adjective for this recipe…it is so good that indeed it is BONKERS, just as Jamie describes. I have had this
Mad for Macarons!
If you haven’t noticed, I am a bit mad for macarons. A bit obsessed one might say. The delicate almond, egg white, and sugar cookies area perfect nexus
Creamy Pumpkin Quinoa Risotto
I reached for the tri-color quinoa this afternoon and had no idea what was about to happen. Truly I didn’t. I thought I was going to make some
Moules Frite are easier than you think!
Mussels – they seem scary. They really do! How do you know if they are good or bad? How does one clean them? What does a restaurant do
I <3 Lorraine and her Prawn linguine with chorizo & cabernet tomato sauce!
Thank you Lorraine Pascale. Thank you for your beautiful self and your beautiful tv program with your beautiful food porn, done with music that is actually enjoyable and
Cake makes everything better!
Nothing fixes whatever ails one like a nice slice of homemade cake with rich, creamy, and sweet frosting. In my case it was a pulled back muscle and
Roast Chicken Salad with Butternut Squash and Farro
I’m setting myself up right for healthy eating this week. I already have a refrigerator full of delicious items from Chef Grifka at calitable.com for that extra helping hand
Korean Inspired Sandwiches for a hike
It always starts with a simple curiosity, doesn’t it? A whim, a capricious thought, a lingering wonder, a down right primal urge to know exactly what is being sold
Simply chicken teriyaki for a stressful day
Even I will admit: you may not want to “Take My Life and Eat It” on this one. Or maybe you will. Either way it’s been a
Get out of bed early chocolate chip pancakes with bananas
Sometimes you need to get up early and make dark chocolate chip pancakes with sliced banana on top. This morning was one of those mornings. I needed the
Lunch with the rain
Inspired by the chefs over at Canal House Cooks Lunch, I was inspired to do a little simple “this is what I ate for lunch” post. I needed
I made my own yogurt!!
I recently added NPR to my Facebook feed and am really liking the gems they post, but arguably my favorite one so far was the post “Yes, It’s
My version of Gai Pad Krapow – Thai Basil Chicken
Recipe to follow on this one! I had a few chicken breasts in the fridge and hated the thought of having them plain and boring. I googled “ground
Cooking lessons
So when one opens there big fat trap on facebook, one ends up giving a “cooking lesson.” Never tease someone about their burnt pizza or inability to boil
Chicken and kimchi stir fry
How did I go from not liking kimchi as a child to loving it as an adult. No, “not liking” isn’t strong enough – hating? DETESTING. Yes. Ridiculing
Farm Fresh Mashed Potato and Butter Bean Cakes with Green Onion
August – hot, muggy, unbearable across the mid-Atlantic coast. What does the entire populace do? Migrate down Hwy’s 158 and 12 to the Outer Banks, NC on a
Baked chicken chile verde stuffed poblanos
I’m keeping the theme rolling for yesterday and will not be behind anymore. And in keeping with that theme, I got a new pair of running shoes
Roasted tomatillo and Poblano Salsa
I’m behind. Way behind. Specifically on keeping this blog up to date, but being behind isn’t a new thing to me. I will never forget the grand dame
Whole Wheat No Knead Bread
Yesterday was a warm one. The kind of day that is super good for rising bread without having to turn an oven on to get that temperature that
Pick-up Paella
I’m going to get some grief from some by calling this a paella. It’s not the paella that people think of with the beautiful prawns and mussels you’d
Spanish Potato and Green Bean Salad
What to bring to a housewarming barbeque after recently returning from Spain earlier in the week? Something Spanish flavored of course. But to write about it? It would
Monday night Padrons
It’s hot out. Well, all things considered not THAT hot. It’s not Death Valley hot. It’s not even El Cajon hot. Ok it’s just kind of warm and
There is more than ONE kind of tortilla?!?!
Typical for me, I started my Saturday morning off making a tortilla española. For anyone who’s been following my blog for any length of time, you will know
Okayu, plus some.
This lunch started as some simple okayu, or Japanese rice porridge. I had felt the beginning of a sore throat over the last few days and needed some
Pimientos de Padrón Fritos
While waiting for my real lunch to cook, I was looking at some peppers I had brought in from the garden this morning while watering – the padrón
Smoked Paprika Kale chips
I need to stop eating these. Wait, do I need to stop eating these? I’m so confused! They are chips. But they are kale. HELP!!! The garden gave
Kimchi – it’s not that scary
Ok, kimchi is a little scary. Especially if you have childhood memories of your dad bringing it home from the wife of someone at work and it’s the
Puff Daddy? No – Puff Pastry!
The dreaded puff pastry. Most everyone will say, “Don’t bother. Go buy it.” At best, you get a “Well maybe do it once but never do it again.”
One-Handed Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
It’s been 3.5 weeks since I had shoulder surgery and I’ve been out one left arm, put up in a sling for a month to heal. I’m paying
Moroccan Chicken Tajine
If you read my last post, you know that I had a jar of preserved lemons sitting on my counter that were ready to go. You also
Save a life…preserve a lemon!
I can already tell you, the $95 spent on my citrus tree was the best money I’ve spent in a long time. In itself, it is the coolest
Red Curry Beef Short Ribs
I’ve said in the past that I don’t cook anything twice for company. This recipe is the exception to that rule. IT IS SO DARN GOOD AND
How to recover from (insert catastrophe here)
How does one recover from getting bad news regarding a shoulder injury, i.e. you find out you are going to need surgery? Take home made sweet potato gnocchi
Master of the gnocchi
Thank you Aida Mollenkamp. Thank you for combining two of my favorite things, gnocchi and sweet potato. Thank you for writing a recipe that would finally enable me
Shepard’s Pie – A Weekend Too Soon
So who knew that when I decided to make this variation on shepard’s pie it would be in the 80’s?! Bad timing. And to top it off the
Late lunch tortilla – with some green in it this time!
You all know I love making a good tortilla española. Well I got the urge again and decided to throw one together for a late lunch on my
Fava bean and zucchini fritters!
I finally found it!! The perfect recipe to use the last of my garden fava beans I pulled in, shelled, and had in the freezer, waiting to be
Tomato and corn pie
I’m remiss – I didn’t take a picture of this fresh, but it was even better the next day! At work even, without the benefit of a beautiful
Radish time!
Tough day… the universe was really poking at me, working my last nerve. But it rewarded me with some garden goodness when I got home. I pulled up
Vietnamese graduation lunch!
After my favorite run/surf/yoga buddy’s law school graduation, I got the Asian mother guilt when I hesitated to accept the family invite to join them for lunch. WOW!
Home grown fettuccine, fava beans, marscapone, and prosciutto.
So I mentioned I had lots of garden fresh fava beans and no idea what to do with them and my friend came to the the rescue –
Monday night pizza that was supposed to be Sunday
Every now and then I attempt to make pizza from scratch. I had the itch again, and made the dough for a Sunday night pizza fest. Unfortunately, I
Killer Moroccan spiced meatballs, aka kefta mkaouara
I will not claim to have any idea how to pronounce “mkaouara” but I do know “kefta”. Gotta love some kefta, aka meatballs! This time they are moroccan
Runner’s World Banana Bread
What’s a guy to do whilst waiting at home for a remediation company to come out to dry the ground under his house and have a plumber fix
You say rocket…
…I say arugula walnut pesto!! And that’s what I did when my favorite chef/business owner/philanthropist/volunteer organizer gave me a HUGE box of leftover arugula (rocket?) from Specialty Produce
The ultimate sweet potato fry!
I have always loved sweet potato fries, but wanted to make them healthier at home and not use a ton of oil. So I’ve tried many ways to
Peach galette
You know it’s bad when you do things like this when your home spending a Sunday on the couch sick. Yup, not only do I have a cold
Pickle making time!
I think it’s time I got to a pickle makin…
Pineapple Green Chile Marmelade
What’s a boy to do with left over pineapple from a luau and fresh anaheim green chiles from his garden? Make marmelade!! I found this recipe on line
Roofing – day 2 and a cucumber bread salad
The roofing continues – back half of the house. And I continue to get further behind at work. I was able to cull though some of the email
I LOVE MY SUMMER GARDEN!!
After an epic yet enjoyable family visit/early 40th birthday party/4th of July holiday I did not return to work today. I stayed home. To have my roof repaired
Apricot Anise biscotti
I’m not a huge fan of biscotti for some reason. I think because by the time I get them (out of their plastic wrapper) they are super dried
Amish cheese party anyone?
I just got back from my niece’s college graduation in Wooster, Ohio. We had a few hours and went into Amish country. Not even that far and it
Radical, I have radishes!
Ahhh, Friday night. I decided to try a bottle of sake I got at the Japanese store when I was shopping for Hello Kitty supplies for my Easter
Making mini-ravioli right!
I know I’m supposed to clear my mind in evening yoga and I try. I swear, I really try. Inevitably dinner pops into my head and I’m going