As I discussed in the first installment of The Crispy Chicken Chronicles, I have been craving all kinds of crispy, crunchy, spicy, sticky chicken lately. But the one preparation that I keep coming across, that haunts me, that I just cannot keep out of my mind – that is KFC. No, not that KFC – I…
Creamy Japanese Carrot-Ginger Salad Dressing
Not long ago we visited Arne’s parents in Woodland Park, Colorado, where they took us to a bustling restaurant called Fusion Japan. The place was jam-packed, and I have rarely seen servers hustling the way our waitress did! For some reason we each ordered a different chicken dish. (We didn’t try the sushi – a…
Homemade Napa Cabbage Kimchi
I love Korean food. I only know of two places to get it in Albuquerque: Korean BBQ House and Soo Bak Foods, the local Korean food truck. Both are very tasty. But of course, if I love a food I need to be able to make it myself. And if you want to make Korean…
Tangy Thai Salad with Canned Tuna? It’s Delicious!
I adore Pok Pok, the Thai street food restaurant in Portland that has now expanded to NYC. When I saw that its chef Andy Ricker was putting out a cookbook, I was excited, but cautious. I was concerned that it might be excessively “chefy” – that is, full of brilliant ideas, but terribly complicated…
Singapore Crab Cakes with Sweet and Tangy Red Chile Sauce
I am a sucker for the words “street food.” They call to mind the most exciting and delectable experiences: sizzling fish tacos handed down from the window of a brightly painted truck; smoky grilled meat sticky with spicy lemongrass-chile sauce; colorful drinks in plastic bags, skewered with straws for sipping; steaming bowls of soup slurped…
Recovery Food: Simple Congee with Vegetables
This blog is about good times – delicious food, breezy work, sharing with the ones you love. Happy, simple times. But food and eating are not simple. They are complicated by all sorts of things – social pressures, money issues, environmental concerns (local vs organic, anyone?), and all manner of health concerns ranging from managing…
Sweet-Hot Black Pepper Tofu
Back around Christmas I fell in love with the cookbook Plenty at my favorite local beautiful-things store, Hey Jhonny. (Yes, it’s meant to be spelled that way.) I was desperate to own the beautiful, pillowy-covered, extravagantly photographed object. But I didn’t know if it was a good cookbook, and besides, I was supposed to be shopping…
Tofu and Vegetables in Peanut-Miso Velvet
I’m rescuing this recipe from the archives. A few nights ago I looked it up and cooked it for dinner, and I was surprised and dismayed to see that I had made some big errors. The kind of errors that make readers really annoyed with you. Most notably, I had failed to explain where to…
Green Peas in Indian Cream Sauce with bonus recipe – Golden Basmati Rice
I received an unexpected holiday gift this year. A friend of mine from work left a copy of Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick & Easy Indian Cooking on my desk. When I protested that he didn’t need to do that – we don’t exchange gifts at my workplace, except for the annual holiday party gift steal –…
Carrot Halwa: Sweet Indian Carrot Pudding
Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, was celebrated last month. Diwali is a five-day harvest festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil – the transcendent inner light overcoming the darkness of ignorance to bring joy and peace. And sweets. Arne and I are not Hindu, but I love harvest festivals and winter celebrations…