When you slow-cook pork in a delicious braising liquid, two awesome things happen – the pork becomes so tender it literally falls apart, and the meat absorbs all the juiciness and flavor of the liquid. When that liquid is coffee… it’s magical. If you dry rub pork with coffee grounds then braise it, you’re basically…
Tag: Dinner
Spicy Sausage & Mushroom Tomato Sauce Pasta
I adored this spicy sausage and mushroom tomato sauce pasta when I was a kid. My mom always made it with spaghetti noodles, and half the fun was watching my brother eat it. He would suck each individual noodle through his lips, and then eat the sausage and mushrooms later. By the end of the…
Cassia Restaurant Review
Gold Dig #34 Cassia is one of the few Santa Monica spots on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. I’ve been pretty excited that one of the most talked about hot LA restaurants in the last couple years is in my backyard. Every time I pass by, I see a lot of happy-looking people eating and drinking…
Red-Braised Ribs
These red-braised ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender and pretty easy to make. The hardest part is cutting the slab into individual ribs – my mom always used a cleaver. The second hardest part is having the patience to wait 90 minutes as the braising slowly breaks down all the connective tissue of the ribs, filling your…
Pizza Party
What’s a great way to close out the week? With an impromptu pizza party! And I’m not talking about greasy cardboard boxes delivered to the door. When Colin texted to say he and Anthony had each prepared homemade dough and homemade sauces, of course I was in. The rest of us brought abundant toppings, which…
Shabu Shabu
What do a bunch of foodie friends do on a random Monday night? Shabu Shabu! It falls into the category I like to think of as interactive eating – French fondue, Korean BBQ, Chinese hot pot, Japanese Shabu Shabu – I love them all. You cook thinly sliced meats and veggies in pots of broth…
Steamed Chinese Mushroom Chicken
Steamed Chinese Mushroom Chicken was one of my favorite dishes growing up. Steaming the chicken in the sauce keeps it super tender and lets it absorb all the great flavors. The Chinese mushrooms add a great woodiness and bit of chewiness. And the Chinese sausage gives some pop and sweetness. It’s also easy to make,…
Spicy Eggplant with Pork
Spicy Asian eggplant is a pretty common dish at Chinese restaurants. This is my re-creation of it, with pork added, because what’s good without pig is even better with it. This can be done more simply by skipping the salting, cornstarch coating, and frying of the eggplant – just sautéing it with the pork instead….
3.14 Pi(e) Day
March 14 is Pi Day (3.14 get it?), or as I like to think of it – Pie Day! If you’ve been following along at all, you know that pie is one of my favorite things. So a day dedicated to getting as much of it as possible into my pie hole has some pretty…
Get Your Grill On
When Nelson said he had a brisket that he’d been smoking for 12 hours and would anyone like to come over for a BBQ, we all agreed this seemed like a fine idea. For dinner on a random Wednesday night, I’d say we represented pretty well. Dinner Tim made this stunning fruit platter. I challenge…
Cutting Corners with Lasagna
Sometimes an impromptu night of home-making lasagna is exactly what you need. The Lasagna The star of the show, naturally, was the lasagna. We started with homemade pasta sheets. Anthony made his secret tomato sauce recipe, which included ground beef, Italian sausage, tomatoes, wine, and a set of spices that shall never be revealed. It…
Bringing In the Year of the Rooster
A couple weeks ago, we celebrated Chinese New Year by closing out the Year of the Monkey. Now we get to celebrate by bringing in the Year of the Rooster! Many of the dishes are family traditions which will look familiar from the last feast, but I love to eat these foods so I don’t…