Arne and I honeymooned at his parents’ rustic cabin in Woodland Park, up a mountain pass from Colorado Springs. At that time neither of us drank alcohol, so I’m not sure what led us, while we were exploring the Springs, to venture into Phantom Canyon Brewing Company. At any rate, in we did venture. We…
Master Recipe: Crunchy, Toasty Granola
I’ve been experimenting with granola for years now, as long-time readers of my blog know: I’ve posted two recipes for it, as well as one for granola bars. Granola is my favorite weekday breakfast; I’ve taken to making it every other week or so, and I think my flavorful, deeply brown, super-crisp granola is the…
Spam Ramen, or Rescuing a Terrible Recipe
Cooking has been my passion since college. For more than twenty years I’ve spent a huge amount of my time reading cookbooks, trying recipes, learning methods, combining ingredients. I’ve gotten good at tasting “in my head,” having a pretty good idea of what a recipe will taste like before I try it. Usually I can…
Korean Shiitake-Beef Lettuce Wraps
It’s NaBloPoMo on Unfussy Epicure! NaBloPoMo is National Blog Posting Month. Bloggers who choose to participate post to their blogs every day. As with NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month, where participants write a minimum number of words every day – it’s a little hard to pin down what month actually is the official month…
The Crispy Chicken Chronicles: Spicy Korean Fried Chicken Chunks
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…
The Crispy Chicken Chronicles: Double-Fried Chicken Wings
Lately, there has been a particular type of recipe that keeps catching my eye: Fried chicken. But not typical Church’s or KFC (unless, of course, by KFC you mean “Korean Fried Chicken”). I find myself daydreaming over pictures of crisp, Asian-inspired chicken, most often doused in bright, sticky, spicy sauce. Korean, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, or…
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…
Salted Honey and Olive Oil Granola
I’ve been refining my granola technique for several years now, starting with the revelation that was my first taste of Alta Lodge Granola, which I posted about four years ago. That granola is still incredible, better than (dare I say it?) any other artisan or packaged granola I’ve tasted (though Udi’s will do in a pinch)….