Well here’s a crazy idea I’ve been tossing around for a while. These sweets don’t really jive with the Mexican food we’re eating at the moment, but hey—I thought of this back when I was making Japanese Curry. And this is kind of… maybe.. sort of… okay, vaguely… Asian, so in my mind it works :P

I’m not really sure what to call this concoction. It’s a dim-sum wrapper made with sweet glutinous rice and pumpkin instead of sweet potato; on the inside, there’s a pumpkin puree spiced with the cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, sugar and grated crystallized ginger. So basically I crossed jin deui with pumpkin desserts and this odd little deviant child came out. And if I haven’t scared you yet, there are more mutant babies inside my head at the moment. Parents: this is what happens to your kids when they play with their food as wee children.

Continue reading »

The cool weather in northern Pennsylvania was a good excuse to revisit this wonderful, rich and hearty soup. There’s not much in the way of broth—at least when I prepare it—but if thick and chunky isn’t your style, you can easily change the consistency by adding more milk, cream, and roux. This recipe is easily one of my all-time favorite comfort foods.

5-7 pieces of thick cut bacon
2½ lbs chicken breast
1½ lbs chicken thigh, with skin and bone
2½ tsps salt + extra
fresh ground pepper
1 white onion, chopped
6-8 stalks of celery, chopped

Continue reading »

I purchased a beautiful 1.56 lb hunk of fresh Ono from the farmer’s market this weekend. I came home and thought to myself, “This would be wonderful with macadamia nuts and mango.” Doing a search on google led me straight to Beverly Gannon’s fantastic recipe. What a find! The breading provided a crispy crust with a subtle nuttiness; the mango butter was a sweet and creamy complement to the delicate white flesh of the fish; and the garlic chile paste in the mayonnaise spread added just a touch of heat. Perfect! What follows next are a few procedural notes for future attempts.

1. This was an enormous amount of fish for two people. I could serve three or even four people if I had a side dish of vegetables. So, if you can, limit yourself about a 0.5 lb per person for a nice sizeable meal.
2. I had a bit of trouble maneuvering the fillets—first into the pan and then onto the roasting tray. To move the ono into the pan, just use your hands to lift the fish (breaded side up), then quickly but gently flip the fish onto the hot surface. Don't try to use a spatula or grab the fillet pincer-like with your fingers; you'll get breading and mayonnaise sloughing off everywhere.

   Continue reading »

I discovered a recipe from Emeril which brought back fond memories of thin sliced beef from KTA in a soy sauce marinade. (The butchers eventually stopped offering the thin slicing service; it’s a time-consuming process to keep the meat and knife sufficiently cold. Continue reading for more commentary on this subject.) I’m not sure I would call the recipe “Korean.” It sounds more like an American bastard child of grilled thin sliced beef teriyaki over sticky white rice and ground pork lettuce wraps with crunchy rice noodles.

Anyway, the only part of the dish I made word-for-word was the chile sauce. For the marinade, I just threw the ingredients together with a “Oh that looks about right.”

A few helpful hints for next time:

Continue reading »