World Cup of Yum

Grown-up Filet-o-Fish

I still had some yellowtail in the freezer from my awesome fishing excursion, and was pondering yummy ways to use it. For some reason I flashed back to when I was a kid on the extremely rare occasions that my parents would take us to McDonald’s. My mom, I guess in an attempt to get…

Maisel Day

Living in LA, you see lots of TV studios promoting their shows in the lead-up to the Emmys. Most of the time I just ignore them, but this year Amazon did a massively scaled promotion for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel… 1959 prices for goods and services at some of LA’s most iconic retailers! Most of…

Asian Slaw

This is a super easy slaw with an Asian slant that I like to whip together especially during the summer. Works great as a sandwich topping, or a side salad. Guessipe 1 head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced salt and pepper to taste DRESSING 3 TBSP miso 3 TBSP honey 1 TBSP Dijon mustard 5 TBSP…

Cremini Mushroom Toasts

Cookbook Club – Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book In honor of summer picnic season, our July cookbook was Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book. In the book, Silverton has gathered together her best recipes from the very popular sandwich night that she used to do at her restaurant Campanile (no longer open). You can examine every bread-y bite…

Sticky Asian Eggplant

My favorite kind of eggplant is the long thin Asian variety. They are so good in this sweet garlicky sauce. Guessipe 2 Asian eggplants, sliced into angled 1-inch thick pieces 1 tsp salt 1 TBSP corn starch Neutral oil SAUCE 1 TBSP kecap manis 1 TBSP soy sauce 1 TBSP brown sugar 1 TBSP water…

Blueberry-Lemon-Coconut Loaf

Cookbook Club – Baking at Republique We did a bonus Cookbook Club event in June, using Margarita Manzke’s Baking at Republique. She shares recipes for many of the baked goods available at Republique. I was pretty excited about this, since I have eaten my fair share of baked treats at that LA restaurant and pretty…

Spiced Egg Salad

Cookbook Club – The Soul of a New Cuisine For our June cookbook, we used Marcus Samuelsson’s The Soul of a New Cuisine. In it, he includes traditional foods of Africa as well as his own African-inspired creations. I was looking forward to this meal because I haven’t had many opportunities to eat African food,…

Lemon Sesame Broccoli Salad

Blanched broccoli is so good for making a salad because it’s got great crunch and the tops absorb dressing super well so you get lots of flavor. And you definitely want all the sweet lemony nuttiness of this lemon sesame dressing. Guessipe 1 head broccoli, cut into florets DRESSING 1 TBSP lemon juice 1 TBSP…

Super-Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Cookbook Club – The Food Lab Our cookbook for May was The Food Lab by J. Kenzi Lopez-Alt. This cookbook is all about the science behind the best techniques that the home cook can use. You can experience our whole experiment in a meal on my Cookbook Club site – for now, my dish! Biscuits…

Spicy Long Beans

Long beans are sort of like green beans, but super long! You can get them at the Asian market. They have a bit more crunch and firmness and hold their color better when stir-fried, so if you can get them it’s nice to mix things up every now and then. But if you can’t, green…

Fresh Fruit with Chilli Sugar and Lime

Cookbook Club – Chin Chin: The Book I was traveling and missed our official Cookbook Club events for April, but I did manage to make it to the bonus event where we used Chin Chin: The Book by Benjamin Cooper. We did it as a bonus event because this book is not easy to get…

Orange Chicken Sauce

The only time I’ve had Orange Chicken is in those Americanized Chinese restaurants you often find in mall food courts, but I have to admit there’s a time and place where “Chinese” fast food hits the spot. Occasionally I get that craving, and I’ve found it’s easy enough to make Orange Chicken sauce at home….