Our San Francisco host turns guest cook: Blackberry Balsamic Pan-seared Tuna

Tuna quickly pan-seared with capers and parsley is served with a drizzle of blackberries, balsamic vinegar and garlic. Recipe below, courtesy of one of our San Francisco hosts.

Blackberry Balsamic Pan-seared Tuna

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]W[/su_dropcap]e like to do our homework before we travel, carefully researching museum exhibits, places to eat (and drink), good walking/shopping neighborhoods, even overhyped things to ignore. On our recent trip to San Francisco, we did none of that. Just told our various friends we were coming and showed up. It was glorious. Continue reading “Our San Francisco host turns guest cook: Blackberry Balsamic Pan-seared Tuna” →

San Francisco Jet Lag

Calder San Francisco MOMA

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]W[/su_dropcap]e just got back from a wonderful long weekend in San Francisco. “Just got back” as in it’s Tuesday, sneaking up on midnight, and we got home after midnight this morning and both somehow managed to get up and go to work on this same morning. I’m sitting here staring at a blinking cursor, staring down my Tuesday night post deadline and realizing it’s not going to happen. We’ll be back next week, possibly with a recipe, certainly with some stories.

Meanwhile, enjoy the Calder sculpture above, one of many in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s collection, this one in an outdoor courtyard with a living wall. Or as I said when we saw it, “A Calder walks into a fern bar.” Thanks, folks, I’m here all week. Try the veal.

Smoky, understated Asian flavors: Grilled Coconut Chicken Thighs

Noisy-sounding marinade ingredients—coconut milk, lime juice, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce—produce surprisingly subtle, delicious grilled chicken. Recipe below.

Grilled Coconut Chicken Thighs

THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY. That’s a line from the Robert DeNiro film Ronin that Marion and I have made part of our lexicon. We’ve quoted it here, in fact, some years ago. I requote it now because if you think of a recipe as a map—and I do—it seems appropriate with this dish. The chicken was delicious, moist and subtly flavored, but it did not taste like the recipe sounded. Continue reading “Smoky, understated Asian flavors: Grilled Coconut Chicken Thighs” →

Seven recipes for grilling globally

Baked and Grilled Chinese Spareribs

STRAIGHT UP GRILLING—DELICIOUS, RIGHT? Smoke, seasonings, maybe a little barbecue sauce and you’re good to go. But borrow some spices, cooking techniques and flavors from various stops around the world and some wonderful things happen. Just in time for Memorial Day, the semi-official start of grilling season, here are seven globally-inspired recipes. Continue reading “Seven recipes for grilling globally” →

The Korean-Italian mashup you’ll set on repeat: Kimchi Carbonara Linguine

Pasta carbonara, a bacon-rich Italian favorite, gets a cross-cultural makeover with kimchi, Korea’s national dish. Recipe below.

Linguine Kimchi Carbonara

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]C[/su_dropcap]arbonara is one of nature’s perfect foods. Whatever recipe you follow, it involves bacon (or some sort of fatty pork), vegetables and aromatics cooked in bacon fat, pasta, cheese and eggs. Sometimes cream, sometimes not. Like I said, perfect. And now we’ve discovered something that makes it more perfect. Continue reading “The Korean-Italian mashup you’ll set on repeat: Kimchi Carbonara Linguine” →

A new way to love our favorite cheap cut: Chinese-style Short Ribs

Hoisin sauce, ginger, garlic and scallions help flavor these hearty short ribs. You can cook them quickly in your Instant Pot—or braise them slowly in the oven. Recipe below.

WE HAVE COOKED SHORT RIBS SO MANY TIMES, SO MANY WAYS. So when we had dinner guests coming this weekend and spotted beautiful flanken-cut ribs at the meat market, I wondered if I could find a new way to cook them. The answer, of course, was yes. Continue reading “A new way to love our favorite cheap cut: Chinese-style Short Ribs” →

The seriously foolproof Pork Shoulder Roast

A handful of simple ingredients and even simpler prep and cooking deliver a tender, juicy, wonderfully flavorful pork roast. Recipe below.

WHEN MAKING ROASTS IN THE OVEN, one challenge recipes invariably address (with varying degrees of success) is how to keep the meat from drying out or becoming tough—or both. Beef roasts are particularly prone to these issues, especially the cheap cuts. Not so with pork shoulder roasts. This flavorful cheap cut comes out juicy and tender with practically no fuss at all. And as a bonus, it tastes like you worked really hard to get it just so. Continue reading “The seriously foolproof Pork Shoulder Roast” →

From dinner to dessert to breakfast: five ricotta recipes (and a surprise or two)

Ricotta Chevre Cake

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]T[/su_dropcap]his weekend, our daughter who bakes was in town. So she and Marion baked the traditional Italian cake you see here, made with ricotta, goat cheese, dried tart cherries and a mere seven tablespoons of flour. More about this cake later, but it got me thinking about ricotta. Continue reading “From dinner to dessert to breakfast: five ricotta recipes (and a surprise or two)” →

A mix of Asian flavors and a little heat: Spicy Mussels with Ginger

Mussels get a pan-Asian treatment—and a bit of heat—with ginger, garlic, star anise, Serrano peppers, soy sauce and sake. Recipe below.

Spicy Mussels with Ginger

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]E[/su_dropcap]very time we cook mussels, I’m struck by a few things. First, how absolutely versatile they are. Much like boneless, skinless chicken breasts, mussels are a blank canvas—they deliciously take on the flavors and personality of whatever you cook them in. That could be luxuriously creamy and French, perhaps. Or in this case, pan-Asian based, with a decent peppery kick. Continue reading “A mix of Asian flavors and a little heat: Spicy Mussels with Ginger” →

Cooking up a great bowl of red (or white or green): Four Chili recipes

Marion's Chili

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]W[/su_dropcap]e just got back from a lovely weekend of too much driving, eating out and staying up late. So when we were finally back home in our kitchen, I craved a restorative bowl of chili. Specifically, Marion’s go-to recipe. That got me thinking about some of the various chili recipes we like to make and eat. Here are four of them. Continue reading “Cooking up a great bowl of red (or white or green): Four Chili recipes” →