I have never been one of those people that goes batshit crazy for bread. In the three years that I’ve lived in San Francisco, I have never once waited an hour+ outside of Tartine for a croissant, or whatever it is that they make so well there. In fact, I don’t even really like sandwiches that much – mainly, because of the bread. There are, however, a handful of exceptions to this:

1. The popovers at Wayfare Tavern (a deliciously recent discovery)
2. The croissants in Paris (but, only those that I don’t need to wait in line for)
3. The pumpernickel bread that they have at America’s favorite Australian themed steakhouse, Outback (that’s right, I said it)
4. The Sweet Bastard from the Acme Bread Company

Made from Acme’s Sweetdough, the Sweet Bastard is crusty, crunchy, slightly sweet, slightly salty bliss. I’ve been through two loaves in less than 10 days. This bread makes perfect sandwiches, pairs amazingly well with Petite Basque and Cowgirl Creamery‘s Mount Diablo, and is perfectly tasty all by itself with a touch of olive oil and a couple of glasses of wine.

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Though the culinary world loves to hate on the boneless, skinless chicken breast, and I find myself cooking them a lot.  Sure, this part of the chicken doesn’t naturally have the most flavor, but that’s where good technique and a decent marinade come in.

This chicken dish is a staple in my house, and great base recipe – as it takes well to alterations (thyme instead of rosemary, throwing in some crushed red pepper flakes, etc). My favorite way to prepare this is on the grill, but time was limited when I made this so we went for a skillet preparation.

Made this during an unusually busy week, so kept it simple by serving the chicken with steamed broccoli and leftover mashed potatoes.

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Making this has been one of the highlights in my kitchen so far this year.  All that I have to say is that it’s absolutely-fucking-delicious, and has beat every variation of this that I’ve had in restaurants during the past several years (take that, San Francisco food snobs). Although there are a lot of steps involved with this recipe, the entire dish can be prepared in less than 30 minutes, depending on how good your knife skills are.  If you have a fairly well-stocked kitchen complete with the basics, you should already have at least half of the ingredients called for here. We kept the rest of the meal pretty simple, with rice pilaf (out of a box, but it was a Tuesday) and steamed string beans. I will also add that this a most excellent dinner to prepare for someone that you’re trying to impress.  For whatever reason, baby cow sounds so exotic to people – tag an Italian word on the end and people are immediately convinced that you’re a miracle worker in the kitchen. Read More & Get the Recipe »

These days, I find myself spending much more time back East than in years past. With every trip back to the greater Washington DC / Baltimore metro area, I’m all the more excited, impressed and surprised at how far the restaurant industry had progressed in the past 6 – 7 years.  Last I recalled, you couldn’t get a decent meal outside of the typical steak, potatoes and crab cakes. And, most of the time, it wasn’t even that good.

About a week ago, on an unexpected, quick trip back east, I had the pleasure of dining at Alewife, in West Baltimore. Stopping in for a quick, and late-ish dinner, we were surprised at how packed the place was, even on a Thursday night.  The decor is somewhere between a traditional Irish sports bar and your casual New American gastropub – the red tones and dark wood are warm and inviting, perfect for a chilly winter evening.

We started dinner with some drinks, as any honest, red-blooded American would.  I warmed up to a nice glass of malbec, my red wine of choice these days; and he selected one of Alewife’s 40 draught beers, many of which are craft or microbrews. After evaluating the appetizer menu, we settled on the Mussels and the Duck Confit Poutine. That’s right, friends: duck fat fries, covered in gravy, duck confit and mozzarella cheese. While studying the menu on my phone en route to Alewife, I was committing to ordering this. Generally, I wasn’t disappointed, but felt that the dish could have used some optimizing. I loved how well the flavors married with each other, even if this dish needed a pretty heavy dusting of salt. Provided that I got a bite that consisted of equal parts french fry, duck confit, gravy and cheese – my tastebuds were in 5,000 calorie Nirvana. But, I also found that the whole dish was just a little too soft – reminding me a little bit of soggy (but, delicious) bread. Maybe those duck fat fries could have done with an extra minute or two in the duck fat fryer.

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This salad is awesomely light, but 100% satisfying, not to mention really beautiful to look at.  Adding shiitake mushrooms and edamame give the dish a meaty texture, and a feeling of much greater substance than many vegetarian recipes that I’ve prepared of late.  This can be eaten at room temperature, or fresh out of the fridge.

One of the key ingredients for this salad is Nanami Togarashi, a Japanese spice blend featuring several different types of chilies, sesame seeds and orange peel. You may have had it before served as a seasoning agent for that warm bowl of Udon soup that you may or may not have ordered  recently. This is quickly turning into one of my must-have condiments – as it adds just the right amount of umami to even the blandest dishes.. If there’s an Asian grocery store within range, don’t skip this ingredient – it’ll throw of the balance of the whole dish. If you have some patience, you can also order Nanami Togarashi from Amazon.com (and, at the bargain price of $3.20).

This recipe also calls for somen noodles, a think Japanese noodle made from wheat flour. These are my favorite for salads and dishes that can be served cold, however – you could easily substitute these for any other kind of Japanese noodle, like soba or udon noodles, which generally tend to be a little easier to find. If you substitute the noodles, be mindful of the cooking time, as the edamame and noodles are cooked together. If the cooking time exceeds 4 minutes, prepare the noodles and edamame separately.

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This was experiment #2 with E’s white King salmon catch from earlier in the summer.  I used this recipe as my inspiration, and took a few liberties / made a few substitutions.  Even though it was 9 o’clock before I managed to get dinner on the table, it was definitely all worth it.  The horseradish-infused panko got light and fluffy in the oven, and the fish turned out flaky and beautiful.  I probably wouldn’t make this again during the week after a long day, but would be a great meal for house guests – and you know, throwing around the term “pavé” makes you look really fancy.

I had left over raw greens and potatoes from this soup, so used them as sides for this dish.

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I might be a little late to the party here, but I stumbled across Turntable Kitchen in my Google Reader the other day, and thought: what a fucking brilliant idea. Mixing two of my favorite things (cooking and music), and topping it off with some pretty slick web design, these guys really know what they’re doing.  Looking for a new recipe to try out; and some new jams of the indie rock persuasion to listen to while cooking? This is your one-stop-shop for both. Music by the National, Bon Iver and The Weeknd? Yes. Miso salmon with sesame salt recipe? Yes.  Monthly mixtapes? Double yes!

What makes Turntable Kitchen even more awesome is their Parings Box.  For the low price of $25 a month, you get: “hand-assembled box of goodies to create a unique food and music pairing of your own,” which includes vinyl, seasonal recipes, a digital mix tape, 2 – 4 dried ingredients and a ton more.  Sounds like the perfect gift idea to me (by the way, my birthday’s in June).  Head over to their site for more details and how to order.

And, in case you’re skeptical, these guys are legit.  They’ve been covered in the LA Times, The Kitchn and a ton of other places. Google it.

If there’s anything that I’ve learned so far this year, it’s that making soup is really, really easy.  And, with the right ingredients – it’s super healthy, and tasty. As part of my healthy eating new year’s resolution, I’m making concerted effort to eat as many leafy greens as possible during the week, and limit my meat intake.  I’m calling it a weekday cleanse – though, it’s really pretty far from that. I’m not going vegetarian. Yes, I still load up on cheap Chinese takeout if I’ve had a long day. And, I eat whatever I want over the weekend. This includes, ice cream for breakfast, if I so desire.  I’ve found that by subbing out empty carbs (oh, white bread – I’ll miss you) for whole grains, lots of green vegetables for, well, grease – has given me more energy during the day. Gone are the days of wanting to take a disco nap under my desk after a too filling lunch…I’m saving that for the weekends, where my bed is generally much more accessible.

The potatoes give the soup enough substance to make it a nice, light meal. If you have left over roasted chicken, adding it into this soup is a nice alternative to the standard (and summery) chicken salad, or chicken noodle soup.

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I went the cheap route and used Top Round Steak (aka London Broil and really not the ideal meat for this dish), which turned out fine, but was a little tough.  Next time, I’ll splurge and use flank steak or tri-tip instead.   The marinade is my go-to recipe for steak marinades (that also works great on chicken), that I’ve gently perfected over the years  – though, if you talk to anyone who likes to cook, or more specifically grill, you’ll probably find a lot of the same ingredients in their super secret marinade as well.

The suggested marinating time for this is overnight, but if you’re in a rush – you could get away with just a few hours, though you’d definitely be sacrificing some flavor.  The caramelized onions are a must-have for this sandwich.  Caramelizing onions at home is super simple, albeit a touch labor intensive.  For a step-by-step guide – check out this post by Simply Recipes.

I served these with a very healthy slathering of homemade Tiger Sauce.  Did I mention that the steak is also delicious cold?

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Is it 2012 already?  Seriously? How did that happen?

Expected or otherwise, with a new year comes new resolutions.  But, here’s the thing with resolutions – I’ve been making them for more than twenty years and I can only think of two that I managed to keep (Lose 10 lbs – which I did by joining a gym and working out obsessively; instead of having to subsist on an exclusive diet of celery and water. Travel more – which I do regularly these days, but has made a guest appearance on my list of 2012 resolutions).  I’m optimistic that 2012 will be different, and 11 days in, I’m already much closer to fulfilling them than this time last year.

And so, without further ado:
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