It’s been raining in the Bay Area this week, and I just really needed some comfort food to get me through it. I made a trial batch of these cookies this past Sunday, ate every single one of them, and then made another batch last night, and ate every single one of them, so I’ve eaten about 60 cookies over the past 3 days and I’m a little strung out because the only other thing I’ve consumed is coffee, but I have no regrets.
Read MoreEating so many butterhorns that I get sick is my Christmas tradition, and now it can be yours too!
Read MoreMy quest for spice has lead me down some pretty deep rabbit holes, culminating finally in this beautiful Thai masterpiece of a dish, which is simultaneously fresh and sweet and tangy as well as an ultimate embodiment of the screaming, scorching hellfire that can only be expected from a dish that literally drips with the oils of 15 Thai chilis.
Read MoreI don’t care if it’s basic - Chicken Tikka Masala is my all-time favorite thing to eat… but since I moved from San Diego to the Bay Area two years ago, I haven’t been able to find even one restaurant with an acceptable rendering of my most favorite dish. Now, at last, I have finally found a recipe I love, so I can make this for myself and eat it for every meal for the rest of my life like I’ve always wanted to. That’s it - life goal accomplished!
Read MoreKung Pao Chicken has been an obsession of mine for several years - I even considered writing a cookbook called Kung Pao Kitchen - and I finally found a good recipe for it. Obviously there are tons of regional variations of this classic Chinese dish, and this actually isn’t my favorite version (no Sichuan peppercorn - huge bummer), but it’s by far the best I’ve made with ingredients which are readily available in most US supermarkets. It really tastes like something you might find in an American Chinese restaurant, like, a good one too. I’ve made it probably 8 times in the past two months, and I’m really happy with the little tweaks and improvements I’ve made over that time. I made it for dinner tonight actually, and I couldn’t think of any way to make it better, which almost never happens.
Read MoreI’ve been growing Thai basil and Japanese eggplants in my garden since July for the express purpose of making Thai green curry from scratch using only ingredients I grew myself. I even got a curry tree (who knew that curry leaves came from a tree?)… but then some kind of bug or something burrowed its way into my eggplants and stunted their growth so my dream is dead. Meanwhile, my basil plants are growing out of control, so I just trimmed the bushes and threw the wok on the stove, and 20 minutes later this beautiful bowl of chicken was sitting in front of me. P.S. I grew that nasturtium flower from a seed!!!
Read MoreAs always, I completely covered this shit in butter, and sprinkled a little salt on each slice, and yes I may have done that with three entire loaves this week, so my arteries are feeling a little clogged right now but whatever I don’t care. I have no regrets.
Read MoreThe Masterchef Australia Season 12 finale was weeks ago, but I had been wanting to make a dacquoise throughout the entire season because they make it all the time in that show. The contestants somehow bang these things out in like 30 minutes, and after finally attempting one myself, I’m like HOW???? This thing took hours to make, but the techniques were relatively simple and the flavors and textures were well worth the work. I’d say if you want to give yourself a challenge and you have an entire day, this recipe definitely pays off, and you’ll have enough dessert to last you a week, so really why wouldn’t you try it?
Read MoreThe current political landscape just has me in a mood. Long story short, I made 30 cookies, ate them all at once, and washed them down with a full bottle of $5 wine from Costco. It did not help my outlook, but it did confirm that my chocolate chip cookie recipe is the best ever.
Read MoreWhat can I say, I just really wanted to make falafel.
Read MoreTraditionally, this recipe calls for a shortcrust pastry topped with raspberry jam, finely chopped walnuts, a layer of unsweetened whipped egg whites, and some more walnuts, baked until the egg whites are crispy on the outside but still fluffy on the inside. I updated the filling to use blackberry jam, and also replaced the egg white topping with a sweetened meringue. I also had 12 young apples lying around my kitchen, so I chopped those up, mixed the with red wine, cinnamon, more walnuts, and brown sugar, and threw those between the jam and the meringue. I topped the whole thing with a little fresh rosemary and blackberries to brighten it up. Soooooo gooooooood.
Read MoreI’ve made these about 4 times in the past two weeks, and I think I’ve come up with some helpful tips to get them just right: crispy on the outside but still with that great chew in the middle, that perfect flake, screaming green onion flavor, and the perfect accompaniments. I also spent about 11 months in Taiwan over the past 2 years, and I can say with confidence that these come pretty close to the flattened variety of scallion pancake (as opposed to 爪餅, which is a fluffed up version with barely connected layers) that can be found at at least one street cart in every neighborhood there. The flavor and textures really reminds me of my time in Taiwan, but the best part is the smell, which fills the whole house every time I make these completely mood-changing, mind-altering, tummy-filling treats. You asked for it, and now here it is - my recipe for scallion pancakes!
Read MoreBasic? Probably. Still worth making? Obviously. I updated the baking method of my mom’s carrot cake recipe for a cupcake application so that I could try to prolong eating a whole cake, maybe by splitting it into two or three sittings? Clearly I ate all the cupcakes the minute I was finished with their photo shoot; So much for goals.
Read MoreMy mom recently told me about some peanut butter brownies she’d had at a restaurant in Florida, and demanded I make them for her. I told her that was basic AF, and that I would make something better. And then I did it.
Read MoreLove olives? This is the recipe for you. Hate olives? Suck it up and give these a try!
Read MoreI’ve done it. I’ve finally done it. I’ve created a cookie that my mom has deemed “Christmas-worthy”. This is no simple feat, people. Christmas is a huge deal in my house, and it is not easy to create a recipe which can rival any number of my grandma’s 50 time-tested and perfect varieties that she makes every year, but I think I managed!
Read MoreContinuing with my Eastern European obsession, I’ve ventured into desserts! I call these the pop tarts of the Czech Republic.
Read MoreI had persimmons, so…. I basically had to…
Read MoreSo I’ve been on this Eastern European kick, and it just keeps on providing. There’s just something about how rustic and simple, yet jam packed with flavor, their foods are that keeps me coming back for more. So there is a Georgian restaurant in San Diego that I used to go to all the time - That was the first and only time I’ve had it, much to my chagrin. I fully planned to go back once a week for the rest of my life just for that one dish, but then I moved and now I’m sad :( Or at least I was until I decided to make a new and improved version myself this past weekend!
Read MoreContinuing on with my Eastern European theme, after my recent trip to Budapest, i had to try my hand at making goulash. American goulash, from what I can tell, consists of elbow macaroni and canned chili, which I find to be fundamentally abhorent, so when I tried the true Hungarian version, I was blown away. Obviously they inundate it with Hungarian paprika (actually an import from Turkey, I learned), and it almost served the same purpose as MSG in Chinese food - it basically enhances the amount of drool that you invariably and uncontrollably produce after consuming a tiny amount of it. Other than that, there’s not much to it. I think it’s not really necessary to add much. It’s perfect in its simplicity.
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