Ah, spring in Albuquerque. Daffodils, irises, wild temperature shifts, sand blowing in your eyes… it’s not all perfect, for sure, but the lengthening days and the tiny seedlings poking their heads up from the garden soil make my heart light. Very little local produce is available yet, but we do have some beautiful local radishes…
Sous Vide Shrimp in the Kitchen Sink
Arguably the most coveted object of 2012 for the true cooking geek was Nathan Myhrvold’s mini-opus, Modernist Cuisine at Home. For most cookbook authors, a two-volume (one hardcover with gorgeous photos, one spiral-bound recipe book with special spillproof paper), 11-pound, $100 cookbook would be an opus. But not for Microsoft geek and multi-multi-millionaire Myhrvold; Modernist…
Springtime Lemon Risotto with Asparagus
It is now officially spring. How do I know? There’s asparagus everywhere. Not just off-season, $9 a pound asparagus with dried-up ends, but the beautifully fresh stuff: short, chubby spears at Whole Foods, long skinny spears at Smith’s, medium ones at the Co-op, and yummy ones in my CSA box. (If you’ve heard that skinny…
Warm Kale Salad with Farro and Feta
I know, I promised you pictures and stories about my trip to La Paz. And you will get them. But first (and while I’m getting that image-heavy post ready), I want to share a delicious salad for when you’ve over-indulged. Maybe you’ve eaten too many cheeseburgers lately, or had a crazy night out on the…
Roast Chicken Thighs with Grapes and Olives
It’s fun to roast a whole chicken. There’s something elemental about it; like baking your own bread from scratch, it provides a sense of accomplishment that outstrips its actual difficulty. But roasting a whole chicken has pitfalls. For one thing, it needs to be in the oven for almost an hour. Also, it can be tricky…
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…
Soft Red Velvet Cream Cheese Crinkle Cookies
I’m a sucker for red velvet cake. I can’t fully explain why. It’s really just a mild chocolate with a ton of red food coloring, but it’s so festive and beautiful, and it always comes with cheesecake icing. I know I’m not alone. Bakeries always seem to have red velvet cupcakes, red velvet doughnuts,…
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 –…
Easy Paella with Chorizo and Chicken or Shrimp
I have a feeling you’re looking at the title of this post with some skepticism. Easy paella? Isn’t that an oxymoron? We all know paella as a complicated dish so time-intensive that many Spanish restaurants ask you to call your order in ahead of time. Well, thanks to Mark Bittman’s wonderful cookbook The Best Recipes…
Sweet Potato and Green Chile Quesadillas with bonus recipe: Spanish Brown Rice
I must give credit for this recipe, or at least for its outline and method, to my boss (and friend), Angela. It came up during the office lunch break a week or two ago. As so often happens in conjunction with eating, we were talking about food. I’m not sure how sweet potatoes came up….