Kitchen Note: Soup. Lots of Soup
So…hi. I opened the blog just now and was astonished to see people are still reading…I mean, the prevailing wisdom out there in blogland is post regularly or wither on the virtual vine. And nobody can say I’ve been posting regularly lately. Thank you for reading anyway. Where’ve I been?…
Kitchen note: sort-of selfies. recipe testing. Radish sprouts.
The IK is a many-imperfectioned blog. We will never offer fancy desserts, elegant photos of the artfully-arranged dishtowel variety, or get our act together in time to offer holiday-themed recipes. We’re just not that kind of site. Nor are we mad keen on posting photographs of ourselves. We realize how…
Asian Fish Cakes
Many of you know the woman behind the IK hails from Detroit. She is of Eastern European extraction. Sadly, she has never traveled to Asia, though she hopes to, one fine day. It may be surmised from the above that the IK has no expertise in matters Asian, culinary or…
Dim Sum. Hazelnuts. Cooking ahead.
You’re wondering about the featured image, right? Last Sunday, some friends invited us out for dim sum in San Francisco. We took Bay Area Rapid Transit to the Montgomery Station, then hopped the 38 Geary MUNI, riding all the way across town to Ton Kiang Dim Sum, which is on…
Kitchen Note: Udon Noodles. Cat Blogging.
Madly craving fiery udon noodles today. I can’t really say “for lunch” because I eat at odd hours: breakfasting before 6am means by 9:30 I am ravenous for what most people would call lunch. Around 1pm I might snack. Or not. We eat dinner around 6:30. It works. Anyway, I…
Vietnamese Beef Salad
Shopping list: port coffee scallions sugar green tea okra garlic limes tomatillos black beans from bulk bin lemongrass!!! A few days ago I found myself staring at my shopping list, bemused. Okra? Tomatillos? Port? Lemongrass? When did I become a person urgently in need of lemongrass? Not so long ago…
Garlic Cloves Pickled in Miso
He took one of the Excedrins from the counter, regarded it for a moment, then put it into his mouth and began to chew it, slowly and with relish. The taste flooded back like memory, making his saliva squirt in mingled pleasure and unhappiness. A dry, bitter taste, but a…
Vietnamese Chicken Curry
Discuss kitchen equipment with passionate cooks and witness attachment to the most unlikely objects. Laurie Colwin had her cracked Meissen plate, which held any number of solo eggplant concoctions (see “Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant”, Home Cooking). Amanda Hesser has her bone-handled forks. (Cooking for Mr. Latte, The Best Food Writing,…
Easy Scallion Kimchee
Loyal readers–thank you, by the way, how amazing to even write those words–may have noted my fondness for fiery foods, a preference John doesn’t entirely share. Moderately spicy foods are okay with him, but when I dig into the Chinese hot mustard, peppers scoring off the Scoville charts, and dishes…
Back-in-the-Pot-Pork
My community college photography classmates would have decimated the shot below. After slowly feeding my ego through the wood-chipper for using color film, a choice signaling rank amateurism, the group would have settled in for a nice long discourse about compositional elements. Meaning ninety minutes on the blue rubber band. Fortunately, none…