Puerco Pibil (Yucatan-Style Slow Roasted Pork)
Adapted from Recipezaar.com recipe number 86448
Here’s a little something to consider for the upcoming Cinco de Mayo. It’s a dish that’s a bit of a hybrid of braising and roasting. It isn’t really roasting because you are containing the juices of the meat to keep the meat moist and flavorful. It isn’t really braising because the meat isn’t sitting in a braising liquid. It’s very flavorful and versatile. Read more
Meal Planning for the Organizationally Challenged
Posted by Jill | April 14, 2010 | Filed under: Home, Organization
Somehow you’ve failed to launch. You know the difference between a boil and a simmer. Your home is a fruit-leather-free zone. You’ve got a freezer filled with high-quality meat and shelves of cookbooks. But there will be no dishes to do tonight. Dinner will be prepared in someone else’s kitchen and conveyed in Styrofoam. You’ll endure that same old internal dialog again. Read more
Mas o Menos? Menos, Por Favor!
It’s not very often that you’ll be encouraged to aim for less. But many times in the kitchen, the axiom “less is more” is a rule to live by. Buy great ingredients, handle them simply, and add as little as possible. Restraint can be your best friend! Read more
Flounder with Chorizo and Clams
This dish is a great example of the sophisticated flavor you can get from using high-quality ingredients in simple ways. To be sure, this recipe isn’t even as simple as it could be, but with just five ingredients, you will really enjoy the range of flavors, textures, and aromas it produces. Read more
Yeast-Raised Malted Waffles
Adapted from the King Arthur Flour website
I’m one of few people who get genuine amusement from learning she’s been an ass. I mean, really, isn’t it a wonderful thing to know that life is so varied and unpredictable that you can never be sure of anything?
Most Sundays my family goes to a local brunch place after church. While I rarely order them for lunch, I’ve been a bit obsessed with the waffles at this place. They have a malty flavor, are crisp on the outside and soft and light on the inside. I’ve spent the better part of a year trying to replicate their texture and flavor. I’ve played with malt syrups and grains. I’ve played with raising techniques. I’ve never exactly replicated them, though I’ve come up with some otherwise great waffle recipes in the process. Read more
Cook like it’s a Rental
Posted by Jill | April 12, 2010 | Filed under: Foodlife, Home, Organization
Hmmmm. Six rubber scrapers and two meat thermometers. No vegetable peeler. No blender. The tiniest box grater. Whatever. Let’s make it work.
Before I had kids- which was before I even really knew how to cook- I figured out that cooking for myself when I travelled was the key to a great vacation. It’s fun to play with the local ingredients. You meet all kinds of interesting folks at the beachside grill when you’re all standing around with cutting boards full of meat in one hand and beers in the other waiting your turn. You can eat and drink what you want when you want for a fraction of the cost of dining out. And frankly, you don’t spend a week getting bloated and constipated. Read more
Accessories for Your Recipes
I apologize in advance to all of the loggers, crabfishermen, and construction tradesmen who might be among our readers. This article is probably only going to make any sense to women and those men among us who’ve got the “queer eye.” I love this analogy, though and think it might really help many of the folks who can relate. Read more
When life hands you rutabagas…
Posted by admin | March 24, 2010 | Filed under: Home, Ingredients, Recipes
So I picked up my Community Supported Agriculture mystery box of veggies this week, and I thought I’d show you how I approach cooking my way through the contents. Why not start with some chard and rutabagas? Now, I know–who doesn’t have a dozen “go-to” rutabaga recipes in their repertoire already, right? Read more
German Pancakes
Adapted from the Food Network Website
I’ve been a bit bored with the breakfast rotation lately. I was rescued from my doldrums a few weeks ago when I heard someone talking about German Pancakes and suddenly found myself with a new craving. But are German Pancakes a weekday sort of breakfast? Read more
In search of America-shoku
Living in Shirotori, Japan was the equivalent of living in rural Appalachia. Here I am at age 20 on the only transportation I had aside from my own two feet. Enamored and fascinated by the countryside, I ran long distances so that I could see, smell and hear even more of this place. I ran so much that, by the time I got home that fall, I had unintentionally trained enough to run my first marathon. So I did.
I traded in tagines for dashi this winter. I’ve been having a two-year long affair with the food of Morocco. I still love it, but Japanese cooking has me under its spell of late. I guess it is- in part- about contrast. I joke with Bill that- should he meet with an untimely demise or just really piss me off- my next love would probably be a cowboy or logger or something. I mean, I’ve had a banker already. I’d want something new. Right? This is surely the origin of my crush on Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs).
