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Recipes

29
Jun 2011
Recipes

Super Simple Sugar Snap Pea Soup

Snap Pea Soup just before Fourth of July weekend? I know, but don't you feel like that's how everything seems to be this year? Just a little behind. There were such beautiful sugar snaps at the farmers market, I'd figured on doing a little salad, simply blanching them and dressing them with a little bit of rice wine vinegar and sesame oil and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds. But then this Mark Bittman recipe popped up, equally simple, if not more so.
26
Jun 2011
Book Reviews Recipes

A16 Chocolate Budino with Sea Salt

I have a love/hate relationship with restaurant cookbooks. On the one hand, I'm thrilled that one of my favorite restaurants is sharing its recipes, but on the other, the dishes don't always seem to measure up to the versions I've had when dining out. We loved A16 in San Francisco under Nate Appleman (who's since moved on to consult for Chipotle) and had a number of wonderful dishes there -- from the burrata to the housemade salsiccia pizza w/ spicy chile oil to the chocolate budino. The A16: Food and Wine cookbook delivers on those dishes and more. It was the A16 cookbook that introduced me to "00" flour and the overnight rise for pizza dough. The ricotta gnocchi is good, and even better in brodo with spicy pork meatballs, and the chocolate budino...well, what can you say about that other than "Mmmmm."
19
Jun 2011
Main Course Pizza Recipes

Bent Snowboard Pizza with Seeds

Pizza is the #1 food in America, according to the results of a recently released Oxfam survey of more than 16,000 people globally, followed by steak, chicken, Mexican food and pasta. Pizza is #2 in Germany and #5 in Brazil. I can't say I'm surprised about the US result (although I thought #1 would be burgers). Pizza night - whether homemade or take-out - is almost a weekly occurrence for us. That being the case, you'd think I'd be a lot better at rolling the dough into a circle. But when it comes to pizza, I'm geometrically-challenged. Not unlike my experience in 10th grade geometry, I understand the technique, but there's a disconnect between my brain and the rolling pin. It does make for interesting shapes -- oblongs, rectangles, squares. I'd say this one is between bent snowboard and Christmas stocking.
09
Jun 2011
Main Course Recipes

Building a Better Burrito: Taco Potion #19

taco potion #19 Empires have been built on packaged seasoning mixes. There are packets for everything from chili to spaghetti sauce to tacos to meatloaf. I grew up on those packets! Steadily over time, I've learned to make those dishes from scratch, but there's been a hold out, one last packet standing in my pantry -- Lawry's Hot Taco. Building a better burrito, even a gringo one, starts with the meat and its seasoning. I tried but just could not come up with the right combination of spices to duplicate or surpass the Hot Taco packet (and eliminate all the ingredients I couldn't pronounce). More salt? Was it the chili powder? Is it cocoa that's missing? What about garlic powder? Oregano? I looked it up on copycat recipe sites, I tried the taco mix from Marketspice, a great spice and tea shop in Seattle. No joy. So we just kept on with the packet for our everyday tacos and burritos. Until...