Breakaway Tomato Spread
Monday, March 31st, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas | 10 Comments »I think I've happened upon another flavor blast that will become a permanent staple in my fridge. I recently found a gigantic (more than a pound) bag of dried tomatoes -- a truly excellent source of umami -- for a ...
King Crab with Jicama, Avocado, and Dried Dragonfruit
Thursday, March 27th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »I didn't go into Monterey Fish, looking for King crab, but as soon as I entered, Tom Worthington -- co-owner and raconteur extraordinaire, whose little office serves as a water-cooler of sorts for sushi chefs, restaurant owners, wine merchants, and ...
Book Review — Happy in the Kitchen
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 Posted in Book Reviews | 5 Comments »I thought it might be fun to start a new review section of this blog, in which I sketch some thoughts on certain cookbooks that have caught my attention for whatever reason. Because this blog is all about breakaway cooking ...
Ginger Fennel Fish Cakes
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas | No Comments »What do you do with a pound of frozen fish fillets? My first choice is usually to give them a crust of some kind, pan-fry them, and drizzle on some kind of citrus reduction, but for some reason the ...
Matcha Rice and Pickles
Friday, March 21st, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas | 9 Comments »After making a luscious cup of frothy matcha today, I got pulled away and forgot about it. Lunchtime came along, and a quick look at the fridge didn't reveal much. But I had just refilled the jar of jasmine basmati ...
Anisey Blast Fish Soup
Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Dishes | 3 Comments »My seafood-loving friend Dave came over to celebrate his birthday, so I made him this soup. It's a breakaway fish soup, everything that's great about bouillabaisse, with little of the fuss, plus three blasts of anise: Pernod, fresh fennel bulb, ...
Umami Lasagna
Thursday, March 20th, 2008 Posted in Dishes | 11 Comments »You may well be getting tired of me titling things "umami blah blah," but please be gracious and allow me to tell you about this umami-packed almost-vegetarian pasta-less lasagna. It all started with a huge pile of baby bella mushrooms (more ...
Blogger Out, WordPress In — please update your subscription
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 Posted in Admin | 3 Comments »I discovered that using Blogger outside the Blogger platform -- that is, on this site, not Blogger's -- was more hassle than it was worth, and switched the blog over to WordPress, which I'm still learning. I will ultimately have ...
Lemongrass Pasta Salad
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas, Dishes | 2 Comments »About a year ago I discovered lemongrass in a tube. It's made in Australia by an outfit called Gourmet Garden, and they sell it in Safeway. I'm not crazy about their other products, and I don't like everything about this ...
Umami Beef Jerky
Friday, March 14th, 2008 Posted in Dishes | 5 Comments »I've been working on a beef jerky recipe for a while, since I bought my dehydrator several years ago. My best jerky to date was a galangal-infused batch -- gingery and tropical and really good -- but I think I ...
