Pork Chops with Fennel, a one-pot cozy winter meal

Fennel bulbs help flavor these chops—and serve as a side in this one-pot, weeknight-quick meal. Recipe below.

NEVER TRUST IDEAS HAD AT 1:45 IN THE MORNING. I was lying awake last Saturday at said hour, realizing we didn’t have a recipe to post this coming Wednesday and knowing we would be out of town on Sunday. Suddenly, I thought of cooking pork chops with fennel bulbs. It sounded like a great idea, one-pot simple and a cozy winter antidote—I sent myself a note and went to sleep. It was a great idea. We’d done it in 2015. Continue reading “Pork Chops with Fennel, a one-pot cozy winter meal” →

Weeknight quick comfort food: Instant Pot Korean Beef

Gochujang, a Korean fermented pepper paste, and a host of pan-Asian ingredients create a comforting beefy antidote for winter dinner blahs. Recipe below.

WE SOMETIMES REFER TO OUR APPROACH IN THE KITCHEN as cooking with a magpie eye. Like those inquisitive, acquisitive birds, we’re always looking for shiny new objects. For us, that can mean new-to-us ingredients, techniques, ideas. So when we recently came across recipes for Korean beef, we already had most of the ingredients on hand—and some sense of what they could do together. Continue reading “Weeknight quick comfort food: Instant Pot Korean Beef” →

Asian ingredients bring umami to not-necessarily-Asian Roast Chicken with Miso Glaze

We use white miso paste, rice vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil not to create an authentic Asian dish, but to deliver big savory flavor to roasted chicken thighs. Recipe below.

WE’RE BIG FANS OF USING INGREDIENTS IN UNINTENDED WAYS. Recently, Marion used miso paste, a traditional Japanese seasoning, to add an umami twist to banana bread. Here, a host of Asian ingredients create big flavor without nodding to any specific cuisine. Continue reading “Asian ingredients bring umami to not-necessarily-Asian Roast Chicken with Miso Glaze” →

Third time’s the charm: Chocolate Bundt Cake with Bourbon Glaze

This deliciously chocolate, finely crumbed cake is iced with a three-ingredient bourbon glaze. Recipe below.

I BAKED THIS CAKE THREE TIMES BEFORE I GOT IT RIGHT. Three times. Three. The problem was not the flavor—a lovely chocolate—or the texture—finely crumbed and pleasing and entirely too easy to eat. It was the pan. Continue reading “Third time’s the charm: Chocolate Bundt Cake with Bourbon Glaze” →

Bò Kho (Vietnamese beef stew) gets an Instant Pot makeover

Flavors from all over Asia (ginger, lemongrass, five-spice powder, garam masala, fish sauce…) spice up this delicious, aromatic, meaty stew. The Instant Pot speeds it up. Recipe below.

OUR FAMILY LOVES THIS DISH. Hearty, complex, aromatic, it’s a popular favorite over here. Now that we are not eating all that much red meat, this has become even more of a special occasion meal. When one of our daughters found herself able to visit us over the holidays, this was the dish she requested. This time, we made it in the Instant Pot to see how it would work out. Continue reading “Bò Kho (Vietnamese beef stew) gets an Instant Pot makeover” →

Eating our way through the holidays

WE’VE DONE A LITTLE TRAVELING OVER THE HOLIDAYS AFTER ALL. A day trip to Milwaukee to see our daughter there and eat delicious takeout from The Vanguard. The Chef-driven bar and restaurant offers “an elevated approach to Milwaukee’s Beer and Brat tradition,” with house-made sausages that range from familiar to adventurous. All with the city’s signature friendliness and lack of attitude. Continue reading “Eating our way through the holidays” →

Home for the holidays

WE WON’T BE TRAVELING FOR CHRISTMAS, and our kids won’t be coming here. Instead, we’ll be hunkering down. Still. Again. Waiting out the current surge and learning another letter of the Greek alphabet. We know we’re luckier than many others. Everyone is healthy and employed. Our weekly family Zoom dinners and daily phone calls and FaceTime are helping us stay close, feel together. Continue reading “Home for the holidays” →

A classic dessert bread gets a nutty, umami twist: Miso Banana Bread

Sweet white miso adds delicious umami, sunflower and pumpkin seeds a nice crunch, to this not-to-sweet spin on banana bread. Recipe below.

WE LOVE BANANA BREAD. Blue Kitchen already has three different banana bread recipes, and to be honest, I was surprised that there were only three. Now there are four. Continue reading “A classic dessert bread gets a nutty, umami twist: Miso Banana Bread” →

Now Instant Pot-ready: Layered Pot Roast with Anchovies, Capers and Garlic

This hearty pot roast made with capers, onions, garlic and anchovies, Grillades à L’Arlésienne, comes from the South of France. Here, it gets an Instant Pot makeover. Recipe below.

OUR HANKERINGS FOR THIS DELICIOUS ROAST always come at the most inopportune times. As in when we don’t have two and a half hours for it to roast after we’ve done the simple prep work. So it was time for an Instant Pot makeover. Continue reading “Now Instant Pot-ready: Layered Pot Roast with Anchovies, Capers and Garlic” →

A not-too-sweet anytime treat: Blueberry Sour Cream Cake

Blueberries and sour cream are the basis of this modestly sweet cake a dessert, a breakfast treat, a mid-day pick-me-up. Recipe below.

WE ARE STILL BEING VERY CAUTIOUS THESE DAYS. We are not flying. We are not going into our offices. We are only going into shops and the library and other public places when they are relatively empty. We aren’t going to bars at all, which is so sad. But we are still seeing people, with great care, as we wait out what looks to be a multi-year pandemic. Meaning we still want to have some treats on hand, just in case. Thus this simple bundt cake. Continue reading “A not-too-sweet anytime treat: Blueberry Sour Cream Cake” →