i hope you eat good food, grow beautiful things, and have more love than you know what to do with.
I love ganjang gejang which is Korean raw marinated crab, but my mom introduced me to Chiang Xie/嗆蟹 (although pronounced chiang ha in the regional dialect) which is Chinese style raw marinated crab. She bought it from a side dish take out place in Flushing …
Some years there are so many blowfish in the water you can’t catch anything else because they are voracious and will take any line with any bait at any time. Then there are years where they don’t show up at all, for whatever reason may …
I’ve had smoked trout and smoked cheese conserves in a Costa Rican resort when we visited my parents last year and had wanted to do something similar, and then in passing I saw a recipe for Hungarian smoked quail eggs in oil. Try as I might, I couldn’t find any published recipe online for the Hungarian eggs, so I decided to try making it as a conserve in olive oil.
I raise quail (and you can too) so I always have an abundance of quail eggs. I never thought about smoking them, but apparently smoked eggs is a thing. You can smoke it in a smoker, on the grill, or even in a pot at home! I boiled and then brined them first, but it’s also possible to simply smoke and cook them on the grill at the same time.
I often have dried tomato powder on hand from growing an abundance of tomatoes and needing to store them, and you can really use whatever herbs you have on hand.
This “dish” is usually what’s considered ”accidental” as in it’s a byproduct of cooking or braising fish, rendering a gelatinous broth that is cooled and solidified (although now there are places that make it specifically)—often done with eel but it can actually be made with …
My sister bought 12lbs of A5 Wagyu for a pretty and decadent penny and then gave me a hunk of it after we had a barbecue. This level of marbling in the wagyu makes it a slightly difficult ingredient to work with–heat it for too …
My mom gave me a package of octopus before she left for Costa Rica–I’ve been meaning to make something with it but never got around to the doing part, mostly because octopus has a long prep time and I wanted to make sure I gave whatever dish I made with it the attention it deserves. I love octopus (and as a matter of fact, all manner of seafood) so this was a treat for myself.
My garden has exploded as we’re sailing straight into the summer, and that means herbs are in abundance. I’ve been compounding so much herb butter and eating it with everything—and so this octopus was done confit style, where it’s slowly braised in oil.
A white bean puree with lemon (from my salt cured lemon puree), and a newcomer to my garden: salad burnet tossed, with a mignonette (shallot, pepper, red wine vinegar). Made a quick loaf of crusty bread to dip in everything, and we had a brunch to die for.
My sister came over today much to everyone’s (especially the kids’ who are obsessed with her) delight and of course, being two foodies who love to cook (and one an actual chef), we got to working on shucking a baker’s dozen (plus an extra one) …
Sometimes I get venison from friends who are hunters which is always a treat. I find raw venison to be less gamey than cooked, so it’s one of my favorite ways to eat it. Obligatory warning that consuming raw meat can lead to food-borne illnesses. …
The whole house came down with some vengeful stomach virus for almost two weeks (it went around TWICE) and that meant that we had an overflow of eggs from the chickens that hadn’t been used (try keeping down eggs—it’s not fun.) What was I going to do with two dozen eggs sitting on my counter?
In the end, I decided that it was time for crepes. We also haven’t been to the supermarket in a while (for the exact same reason as to why we have so many eggs) but I always keep buttermilk, whole, and skim milk powder handy in my freezer. It’s one of those things I tend to keep for situations just like this. You can use regular milk and butter—but if you’re a bit of a prepper like me (or are otherwise unable to go to the market), this will be a nice recipe for using the dairy stores.
These crepes are sweet and custardy, with chocolate, strawberries, bananas, a sprinkling of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup, and my oldest polished off two by herself for dessert.
You can omit the sugar and vanilla, and double the salt if you want to make it savory–and fill it with cheese and ham, or mushrooms and spinach smothered in hollandaise, or other delicious goodies.
I dried a bunch of lavender last year and between syrups, jams, and baked goods, I always enjoy adding a bit of this floral treasure to give a subtle hint of irresistible deliciousness that makes me think of spring. These tasty bars with a crumbly …