Braised Oxtail
Michael Franti wrote a song called “Everyday Life Has Become A Health Risk.” No explanation necessary, right? — So, food. It feels insane to discuss food right now. The United States is collapsing and we’re talking about oxtail? Well, we still need to eat. And we must escape, if only…
Kitchen Note: repairing Pot Au Feu
Why not start with a nice NorCal flower picture? I was trying to take flower pictures the other day, and this seems like a good excuse to use them. Here’s another. You may be wondering flowers have to with pot au feu, or boiled beef. Nothing. They’re just pretty in…
Pork Belly with Potatoes
On December 18th 2015, the IK posted a recipe for pork belly with beans. By some weird coincidence, exactly one year later, on December 18th, 2016, the IK decided to make pork belly with beans again. While the foregoing makes it sound as if Mr. and Mrs. IK have eaten the dish only…
Salsa Meatloaf with Tequila Canned Beans
“There is nothing like a visitor from another continent to confuse you about your own homeland…One night an Indian friend came to dinner…He asked me to help him figure out American cooking, at which point I drew a blank. He said: “I would like to cook some American dishes, but…
Rick Bayless’s Tomatillo Braised Pork Loin
No one understands and appreciates the American Dream of hard work leading to material rewards better than a non-American. The Ecuadorian, Mexican, Dominican, and Salvadorian cooks I’ve worked with over the years make most CIA-educated white boys look like clumsy, sniveling little punks. Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential Dishwashers are God’s…
Beef Poached in Rasam Broth
The mists of time (i.e. early October) saw your intrepid hostess driving to her local pharmacy. While waiting to fill her (ex) oral surgeon’s munificent 10-pill scrip, she hit the local bookshop, her intentions pure. You know, just window shopping. We all know where this is going. There on shelf sat…
Brasato after Judy Rodgers
10-7-16. I’d like to take an editorial moment here to thank a friend who notes that after all my hemming and hawing about the pig’s foot, below, I neglect to include it in the braise. Such are the perils of a one-woman show. I only wish I could pay…
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: Upheaval
John and I live in a 1000 square foot house. It’s fine for two people, only one of those people has four wheelchairs (two regular powerchairs, one soccer chair, one manual chair). These take up much space, as does his standing frame. Still, we manage well enough, most of…
Steak Fajitas
Home Cooking includes an essay entitled “Flank Steak: The Neglected Cut.” In it, Laurie Colwin extols the virtues of a cut that, since the essay was written, is no longer neglected. Indeed, like lamb shank and short rib, flank steak has become popular and therefore expensive. Much of said popularity…