Flavor meets tender: Grilled Asian Flank Steak

Dry brining flank steak tenderizes it. Marinating it in ginger, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, scallions, hot sauce and more makes it a show-stopping main course. Recipe below.

I use the word flavorful a lot here, I know. Sometimes, I think I should reserve it for flank steak. Before going any further, let me share my own idea of what flavorful means. It’s not a one-note taste bud bomb, like a buffalo wing or a lemon wedge. To me, flavorful means engaging multiple corners of the palate at once, bringing layer after layer of tastes and combining them beautifully. If done right, flavorful means stopping conversation at the dinner table with the first bite. Which is what the flank steak pictured here did on Labor Day. Continue reading “Flavor meets tender: Grilled Asian Flank Steak” →

Organic vs. non-organic: A flawed Stanford study produces dangerous sound bites

A study just released by Stanford University scientists has found that organic foods—produce, meat and dairy—are no more nutritious than non-organic or conventional foods. The study also reports that they are no less likely to be contaminated. They’re probably right. They examined more than 40 years’ worth of research on the topic; the study used no outside funding to avoid any “perception of bias;” and, well, they’re scientists.

The problem with their research, as I see it, is that they asked the wrong question. No one has really seriously claimed that organic foods are more nutritious. And earlier studies on this very subject have already stated what the Stanford researchers were “surprised” to discover. To me, they missed the point. Their central question was kind of like asking if LED light bulbs are any quieter than conventional ones, or if fuel-efficient vehicles are any shinier than gas guzzlers. Continue reading “Organic vs. non-organic: A flawed Stanford study produces dangerous sound bites” →

Improvising with leftovers and sudden summer bounty: Tomato Fennel Soup

Fresh cherry tomatoes and a fennel bulb are the stars of Tomato Fennel Soup, a quick meal or starter bursting with summer flavors. Recipe below.

Every summer, it’s the same thing with our tomato plants. Nothing, nothing, nothing and then wham—tomatoes by the boatload. This summer, the timing coincided with having a leftover fennel bulb from last week’s caramelized fennel cooking adventures that wasn’t getting any younger.

Tomato Fennel Soup seemed like the obvious answer—except just about every version we found involved canned tomatoes; and most of them involved puréeing. I wanted something quick and easy, something a little on the rustic side. And I wanted to see the ingredients I was eating. So I improvised. Continue reading “Improvising with leftovers and sudden summer bounty: Tomato Fennel Soup” →

A book about Julia Child’s cat and Blue Kitchen’s first ever giveaway

I’m giving away a copy of this lovely book. Enter to win it for your favorite child—or for your own inner child. Details below.

Appropriately and charmingly enough, my review copy of Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat arrived on the 100th anniversary of Julia Child’s birth.

Julia left behind her own tantalizing paper trail, with a mountain of cookbooks and the delightful memoir, My Life in France, that served as a source for Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. (If you haven’t read My Life in France, do. It is wonderful.) And more than half a dozen authors have written books about her. There’s even a book about Julia and her cats—Julia’s Cats. But this is the first book about Julia’s first cat, Minette. And it’s for children. Continue reading “A book about Julia Child’s cat and Blue Kitchen’s first ever giveaway” →

Herb? Vegetable? Both: Caramelized Fennel with Fettuccine and Goat Cheese

An Italian favorite, sliced fennel bulb is sautéed until lightly browned, then served over pasta with goat cheese, lemon zest and fennel fronds. Recipe below.

The idea for this dish began with two words on a restaurant menu. We were having dinner a few weeks ago at Telegraph Restaurant and Wine Bar in our neighborhood, and Marion chose seared escolar with stuffed cherrystone clam, uni butter, caramelized fennel, orange vinaigrette and tarragon from chef Johnny Anderes’s inventive, seasonally driven menu. Caramelized fennel. It was buried in the middle of the description, but a standout on the plate.

This wasn’t the first time we’d eaten fennel (yes, I got a bite too). In fact, Marion has occasionally used it raw in salads. But caramelizing it—cooking it in a skillet until it browns, bringing out its natural sweetness—was something we hadn’t tried. Over the next couple of weeks, caramelized fennel kept popping up in our conversations as we tried to figure out what to do with it. We thought it deserved more than its usual side dish treatment. Marion suggested pasta, and a meal was born. Continue reading “Herb? Vegetable? Both: Caramelized Fennel with Fettuccine and Goat Cheese” →

Baked + grilled = easy barbecued goodness with these Chinese Spareribs

Pork spareribs are baked with a simple spice rub, then quickly grilled, basted with a mix of hoisin sauce, sherry, soy sauce, chili paste, vinegar and peach preserves. Recipe below.

For carnivores, barbecued ribs are about as good as it gets. Meaty, fatty, smoky, chewy, salty and slathered in sauce that’s a mix of tangy, sweet and spicy cooked to a sticky, finger-coating lacquer. Unfortunately—for me, at least—they’re also a challenge to cook. Continue reading “Baked + grilled = easy barbecued goodness with these Chinese Spareribs” →

Cook For Julia: Tarragon and French technique flavor Fish Stew with White Wine and Tarragon

Based on a Julia Child recipe, this delicately-flavored fish stew combines classic cooking methods and ingredients. Recipe below.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Julia Child’s birth, PBS.org is inviting bloggers to cook one of her recipes, post it and share the link on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #CookForJulia. Here is my contribution.

Each generation stands on the shoulders of the one before it. Our children use our experience and our knowledge as a foundation to see further than we can. To see things in a way that we can’t.

The same is true in cooking. In looking at some of Julia Child’s cookbooks, it’s easy to see them as a little old-fashioned, right down to the recipes. Chicken Marengo. Ham Steaks with Cream and Mushrooms. But home cooking is only where it is today because we stood on her shoulders. Continue reading “Cook For Julia: Tarragon and French technique flavor Fish Stew with White Wine and Tarragon” →

The judges’ decisions are final: “Delicious!”

Announcing the results of the 2012 International Chocolate Salon Toffee Competition. In which Marion and I judge four pounds of toffee.

Last year about this time, we were invited to help judge the 2011 Chicago Luxury Chocolate Salon. We were soon almost as stuffed as the seven-pound FedEx package of chocolate that showed up when we said yes. This year, the competition hosts, International Chocolate Salon and Taste TV, wisely broke up the competition into four categories. I chose toffee, and the package we received clocked in at just under four pounds.

The category and I go way back. My first exposure to toffee, though, was inauspicious, to say the least. When I was seven or eight, my friend Susie’s mom took us to a Saturday matinee at a neighborhood movie theater. Rather than pay movie prices for treats, she smuggled in a candy bar for each of us in her purse. As the previews began, she slipped them to us. They were Heath Bars. In the darkened theater, I misread it as Health Bar; I’m sure I scrunched my nose at the idea of some weird, good-for-you “treat” being pawned off on us as candy. Continue reading “The judges’ decisions are final: “Delicious!”” →

Heat up flavors, not the kitchen: Spicy Grilled Pork Chops with Mango Cilantro Salsa

Grilled chops flavored with chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper are topped with mango, cilantro, tomatoes, red onions and jalapeño pepper. Recipe below.

Harry S Truman famously said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I took the 33rd president at his word last week, although probably not as he intended. When the temperatures finally (and temporarily) dropped below dangerous levels last Friday, but were still high enough that I didn’t want to heat up the kitchen, I fired up the grill instead. Continue reading “Heat up flavors, not the kitchen: Spicy Grilled Pork Chops with Mango Cilantro Salsa” →

Happy Birthday, Julia: Celebrating the woman who changed how we cook

To mark the 100th anniversary of Julia Child’s birth, PBS.org recently invited a number of chefs and food bloggers to share tributes to Julia, to tell a little about how the seminal cookbook author, TV personality and larger than life person had influenced them. They were kind enough to include me on their list.

You’ll find Julia sprinkled throughout the pages of Blue Kitchen (and it’s interesting that we all feel comfortable enough with her to call her that, not Ms. Child—but that was the kind of warmth and comfort she always inspired). There are actual recipes, of course, starting with Potage Parmentier, the simple six-ingredient potato leek soup she made for her beloved husband and collaborator Paul almost every day. And there was Skate Meunière with Browned Butter and Capers, based on the life-changing sole meunière Julia ate on her first day in France with Paul. Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Julia: Celebrating the woman who changed how we cook” →