We’ve officially reached the “too hot to cook” threshold in NYC. Or for frequent home cooks, too hot to eat anything that isn’t cooked, and then chilled. Does cold food automatically equate a salad? I don’t know. If you have hot string beans, blanched and drizzled with olive oil, you don’t call it a salad. But if it’s the same thing cold, it’s a green bean salad. I fear this argument has no consequence, but to prove some state of heat-stricken delirium.
Serendipity only occurs every so often. But often, it occurs thanks to like-minded food-obsessed friends. With one, we nibbled on fried artichoke hearts over lunch while talking about how daunting most home cooks found cooking the florets, with their spiky petals that needed to be trimmed and trimmed, and her parents’ industrious habit of steaming them whole, leaving the legwork to the diners who would slather them in butter before eating. I resolved to find the perfect way to mediate … Read More
I am neither Irish nor Italian. But I can think of few things more satisfying alone than potatoes, and stock-simmered arborio rice. And together? Holy matrimony. “Satisfy” is not the word.
It was supposed to be simple: I had a nice block of 3-Corner Field Farm sheep’s milk feta, a nice baguette, and some herbs growing on the windowsill, slanted distinctly toward the sun. I had a house party to go to, and thought I’d run them through the food processor (minus the baguette), with some lemon zest, to create a sort of ultimate feta spread for the table. But the first chugs of the processor proved a different fate was … Read More
It’s the kind of cook-off that was my dream come true: the emphasis? Local food. The dish’s requirements? Nothing, aside from being local. The judges? Three established food writers whom I admire. The fundraiser’s cause? Slow Food NYC. The location? The sandy Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City, where I’d spread out my toes shoeless on several occasions. So maybe not everything turned out to be really dreamlike: it was raining all day, at some points more furiously than … Read More
Chef Geetika Khanna did not have to make the best tomato curry-drenched lamb and turkey meatballs at the Curry Takedown to make me sign up for a class of hers. She didn’t even have to introduce herself to me at the event, proving to be as friendly a culinary expert as the rarity goes (in this world of Gordon Ramsays). When a class called “Simple, Healthful and Economical Weeknight Indian Meals” appeared on the calendar for the Indian Culinary Center, … Read More
I’m finally getting some color this summer. Each week, my CSA share has given me bunches and bunches of greens: lettuces, bok choy, Russian kale, snap peas, tat soy, fresh herbs and the occasional candy colored radish or berry-red beet. I was thinking I might turn into the Green Giant consuming it all. But this weekend, I took a retreat to North Fork to visit my friends at Garden of Eve (again), and teach a homemade vegetable dumpling-making class. It … Read More
I received a mildly annoying press release in my inbox the other day: “Picnic food safety greater concern in hot weather” was the subject line (food bloggers out there, you get that, too?). The draconian yarn went on to provide tips to curb food-borne bacteria, which hot weather accelerates. As bringing homemade food to a sunny patch of grass outdoors is one of my all-time favorite activities, I felt that it was oddly singling out picnics as some sort of … Read More
A room filled with the scent of garlic-infused olive oil. A warm oven that sputters with the occasional spillover of sauce inside. A cutting board of cheeses within easy reach. Fresh basil aflutter. Beer. Several able-stomached friends. There are few things more soothing than a pizza party in someone’s home. And while almost any toppings for these treats suffice, there are likely few things more satisfying to a garlic lover than this saturated slice.
A hapa holy trinity? Hey, there’s a first for everything. Sweet and pungent (coleslaw), smoky and spicy (beans), and some of the aforementioned with savory with herbal tossed in (potato salad), these were the flavors that drenched the side dishes at our Hapa Kitchen BBQ on Saturday. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera on hand that day; if I’d had it, I would not have had a clean hand to use it. Therefore, this photo is stolen from Robert … Read More