Breakaway Cook Makes the LA Times!
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 Posted in Media related | 6 Comments »A few months ago I was due to give a talk at Diesel bookstore, in Rockridge, along with Molly Katzen, Elizabeth Falkner, and a few other cookbook writers. I showed up on time, and met the bookstore manager. She looked ...
Udon with Pea-Spinach Pesto and Umami Topping (with Salmon)
Monday, April 28th, 2008 Posted in Dishes | 1 Comment »I don't know what it is about pestos that keeps me coming back. I fully realize that pestos are fraught with the danger of cliche, given their role in some of the not-so-successful early-stage fusion, with well-meaning chefs and their ...
EZ Umami Nothing-in-the Fridge Loaf
Friday, April 25th, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas | No Comments »This thing was truly a bottom-of-the-barrel dish that came out way better than I had imagined it would, so much so that I thought I'd share it. It had been almost two weeks since I'd gone shopping, and there was, ...
The Breakaway Schemata
Thursday, April 24th, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas | 3 Comments »I've drawn a cool little schemata/diagram of the three essential components of breakaway cooking. For some reason I can't get it to post here, but do check it out by clicking here. Let me know if you can think of ...
The Breakaway Approach to Better, Easier Cooking
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas | 4 Comments »A few weeks ago a charming writer and editor named Kim Carlson from Culinate contacted me and asked if I would write up a few general rules or tips to make cooking at home more rewarding. The piece is finally ...
Cooking with Monks
Monday, April 21st, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »I'm just back from a multi-day cooking workshop with the monks of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, in the Ventana Wilderness southeast of Carmel Valley. I was invited down again to help the monk-chefs who cook for the summer guest season ...
Fried Rice
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 Posted in Dishes, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »Leftover rice, how I love thee! I almost never tire of taking leftover rice and making something tasty with it. And because I know this about myself, when I make rice as part of dinner I tend to make a ...
Using Herbal Blasts in Your Cooking
Friday, April 11th, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »I always chuckle when I read a recipe that asks me to use some fraction of a teaspoon of an herb. My daily cooking (and my cookbooks) lean heavily on the prodigious use of fresh herbs, often measured by the ...
Sauerkraut, Breakaway Style
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas | 6 Comments »I've always had a thing for fermented foods of all kinds -- pickles, miso, yogurt, vinegars, olives, cured meats, beer and wine, even coffee, tea, cheese, and chocolate -- but recently I got all fired up about making my own ...
Garlic Confit
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 Posted in Cooking ideas | 17 Comments »I know that I’m lucky to be surrounded by a few Korean-run corner markets, all of which offer big bags (more than 100 cloves) of peeled, hyperfresh garlic for just a dollar or two. It is vastly superior to ...
