i hope you eat good food, grow beautiful things, and have more love than you know what to do with.
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 …
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 topping is like if a coffee cake and a pie had an easy to make dessert baby. The thing that took me the longest was probably cutting the butter into the flour but you can actually do it in the food processor if you’re impatient.
You can use whatever berries you want—I just so happen to have cherries and blueberries this time around. You can also choose to use a different type of flower flavor, such as rose, jasmine, or orange blossom if you have. The world is your oyster and creativity should know no bounds.
It’s spring and one of the first things to pop up in my garden is garlic chives—different than onion chives, the leaves are flat and the flavor similar to ramps but less intense. It’s a popular Asian vegetable and dead easy to grow. With my …
It’s no secret my kids are fiends for sushi so I often make handrolls at home for them—usually avocado and smoked salmon or some California since they keep well. They also love steak tartare so I always have some nice sirloin or skirt in the …
Mugwort—just the name drives gardeners into a fearful frenzy because of how insanely invasive it is. From just a small root grows a dense, waist high perennial that covers the ground in a span of a season. It’s difficult to get rid of once established, and can be the stuff of nightmares. Young though, it’s also an absolutely delicious spring green. A little later in the year, the medicinal flavor strengthens and becomes somewhat overwhelming and the greens turn bitter. I cultivate a small patch of it and remove the rest, because perennial greens can be hard to come by. It is sometimes confused with ragweed (which is also edible) due to the deeply lobed leaves, but the silvery underside is unmistakable.
Historically speaking, it’s a medicinal and culturally significant herb—part of the artemisia family. In Asia, it’s used as both vegetable (ssuk in Korean and yomogi in Japanese) and medicine (Ai Cao in Chinese), and in the west as a deworming/antiparasitic agent (hence its other name—wormwood.) Nobel peace prize winner Tu-you-you extracted artemisinin from its close cousin (artemisia annua) which went on to become an important antimalarial medication used around the world. Mugwort itself also contains artemisinin.
As I weed the garden in spring, before it becomes an unmanageable mess, I collect the young mugwort greens to make a simple dish. Delicately flavored but not slimy, it’s excellent as a blanched green (about two minutes and then rinsed under cold water with the liquid squeezed out), simply dressed in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic (optional) , and sesame seeds. A pinch of sugar to taste and you got yourself a delicious side dish recipe of a once despised weed.
Disclaimer: The following post contains accounts of raising and processing poultry for food. If that makes you uncomfortable, please navigate away from this page! We had a quail processing day (guide to raising quail) which is always a somewhat somber and work heavy day. A …
Yes yes, this dish is normally done with chicken or fish, but I’ve been experimenting with vegetables and seafood to delicious success. Nanbanzuke is the Japanese version of escabeche, a Spanish and Portuguese dish of cooked fish marinated in a spiced vinegar sauce which was …
My kids love potatoes in most, if not all forms—so warm, crispy Japanese potato croquettes disappear quickly in this house. It’s pretty easy to make with a rice cooker that can steam the potatoes, and also easy to jazz up by mixing in different things: hotdog, ham, chorizo, shrimp, imitation crab, ground beef, chives, jalapeno, and cheese are just some of the many ways you can make these deep fried delights special. I prefer steaming the potatoes so it’s not too mushy or watery.
You can also use different sauces on them—curry, tonkatsu, Worcestershire, gravy, ketchup, mayonnaise, tartar sauce, mustard etc. all to deadly effect. They also easily reheat (especially if you have an air fryer.)
Well that’s a mouthful… quite literally! Today is Chinese New Years Eve and since my parents and sister are in Costa Rica, I won’t have as much to do (nor as much to eat)—so I decided to treat us and make a quilt bento. I …