Black Bread
So lovely to be back. Thank you for your support, and for being here. For the moment, I am happily puttering in the kitchen. — Apart from potable drinking water, the Detroit of my childhood featured marvelous Jewish bakeries where fresh challah, pumperknickel, and rye breads were a given.These bakeries were staffed…
A Break In the Action
The Insufficient Kitchen brings news of a brief shutdown whilst the cook goes in for minor repairs. Last Thursday I saw a new doctor, a lovely person whose friendly, upbeat manner cracked a bit upon viewing my left leg. “Goodness!” she ran her fingers over the varicosities. “Doesn’t that hurt?”…
Stuffed Cabbage In The Troo Style
Stuffed Cabbage In The Troô Style is a recipe I’ve longed to write about. Yes, cabbage. With its connotations of sulfur, Soviet canteen meals, wind. This recipe is none of those things. We love this dish. Love it. Which is why I’ve longed to write about it. Stuffed Cabbage In…
Warm Chicken Liver Salad
Friends, I’d like to share a theory with you. It’s called “The Theory Of Paid.” January 14th, in addition to celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King, we observed the anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake. This 6.9 event took place at 4:31 a.m. in Northridge, California, on January 14, 1994….
Yogurt Flatbread
Back in November, before seeing Nigella Lawson at San Francisco’s Omnivore Books, I ate dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant. The server asked if I wanted rice with my meal. Yes, I did. Astonished, he repeated the question. Yes, I repeated, I’d like rice with my meal. The entree arrived…
Spicy, Lemony Chicken
As I was working on this post and the prior one–pork parmesan meatballs–news of David Bowie’s death spread across the world. I mean, the Vatican tweeted the lyrics to “Life On Mars”. Go ahead. Top that. Like most of the rest of the planet, I did not take this news…
Pork Parmesan Meatballs
Many years ago we belonged to a meat CSA. Once monthly, I drove to beautiful home in Berkeley, where I fetched a box containing the finest meat we’ve ever eaten. Alas, we left the CSA. Members had to opt for specific monthly amounts: 11 pounds, 17 pounds, or another, higher number…
Potato Cardoon Gratin
Cardoons, which are seasonal for the next ten seconds, have long fascinated me.With their truly brief window–a few winter weeks in Northern California–cardoons remain that rare thing, a truly seasonal vegetable. This rarity means I’ve had little experience with them, and until now, that experience has been of…
Braised Short Ribs
Braised Short Ribs belong to the important family of stews, braises, and daubes, those heartily earthy dishes of winter. In this discussion, the term “stew” is synonymous with “braise,” signifying a dish requiring long, slow cooking, usually in a low oven. My passion for braising began in grad school, while reading…
New Year’s Greens
To wildly twist a Marilyn Manson phrase, it’s not that I don’t like the vegetables, it’s that they don’t like me. How to put this delicately? Ehlers Danlos attacks the entire digestive system, causing heartburn and G.I. issues not discussed in polite company. Suffice to say, the vegetables I do eat…
