Steak Salad with Hatch Chile Vinaigrette, Farro, Peppers and Zucchini

I'm starting to understand why my grandma used to make dinner so early. I'd come home from school and she'd already be cooking by 3 p.m. It wasn't because she was cooking anything that complex or time consuming, half the time it was because it was just nice not to start cooking at 5 or…

ByMichelleSeptember 6, 20170Comments

I Love the 80s: American Goulash

It's a little surprising that the wave of nostalgia that’s overtaking books and tv and toys in the last few years hasn’t made it’s way to food. Stranger Things and Strawberry Shortcake dolls and totally misguided live action remakes of 80s cartoons like Jem and the Holograms have captured our collective imagination (more or less), but that longing…

ByMichelleAugust 13, 20161Comment

Main Course Recipes

Rain or Shine: Sriracha Sloppy Joes

Long before the pink slime debacle, ground beef got a bad wrap. Other than its use for burgers and maybe cottage pie, it ranks pretty low on the beef totem pole. It's a rarity on upscale restaurant menus, except in comfort food preparations or in ironic, hipstery reduxes of Hamburger Helper. But I'm ok with…

ByMichelleMay 26, 20120Comments

Baking Recipes

Beerocks: Beef and Cabbage Turnovers

When I was a kid, we didn't live far from the Bridgford Bread manufacturing plant. Their yellow and red bags were a staple of my childhood. I can remember my mom making both cinnamon rolls and beerocks (or bierocks) from their frozen bread dough. What the heck is a beerock? A beerock/bierock is essentially a beef…

ByMichelleDecember 18, 20110Comments

Book Reviews Recipes

Coffee-Chipotle Brisket Sliders

It felt good to be back in the kitchen this week. And it felt good to switch gears and really get into some cool-weather cooking. We're already in our pattern of rainy (or overcast) days and we're barely getting into the 60s. But I can't complain, it's time to break out the sweaters and turn on the oven. That's why this week's project was Lisa Fain's Coffee-Chipotle Brisket from The Homesick Texan Cookbook. I can already tell this book will get a place of honor in the kitchen and that some other is going to get kicked down to our bookcases downstairs.

ByMichelleOctober 15, 20113Comments

Recipes

Persian Crispy Rice & Lamb Kebabs (Polo Tahdig & Koobideh)

Polo Tahdig, Persian Crispy Rice gets its crunchy layer from yogurt colored with turmeric and scented with saffron. During our trip up to Tofino, we watched a show with Bob Blumer, you know, the Surreal Gourmet guy, where he faced off with 2-3 Chinese chefs in Vancouver in a Xiao Long Bao battle. Dumplings themselves are…

ByMichelleJuly 11, 20113Comments

Main Course Recipes

Calendar Says May, Weather Says Soup

After a beautiful sunny day yesterday, well, most of the day, Mother Nature is back to the same ol', same ol' in the Pacific Northwest. While other people are persevering and standing at their grills in their rain slickers, I gave in and made a stew. I started out thinking about making a daube, or…

ByMichelleMay 15, 20110Comments

Steak Salad with Hatch Chile Vinaigrette, Farro, Peppers and Zucchini

I Love the 80s: American Goulash

Rain or Shine: Sriracha Sloppy Joes

Beerocks: Beef and Cabbage Turnovers

Coffee-Chipotle Brisket Sliders

Persian Crispy Rice & Lamb Kebabs (Polo Tahdig & Koobideh)

Calendar Says May, Weather Says Soup

Book Review: A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn

The Fourth Princess by Janie Chang

26 New Asian and Pacific Islander Books for your 2026 TBR