Enlighten Me, Smartphone People!
Thursday, July 30th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »Dearest breakaway cooks,I've lately been a convert to the Palm Pre. I like it better than the Iphone for three chief reasons: it feels better in the hand, it has a way cheaper plan, and you can open tons of ...
Semi-dried Tomatoes with Extra Umami
Monday, July 27th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »I got a HUGE -- on the order of 15 pounds -- bag of tomatoes at the end of the market in San Rafael last week for five bucks. "Fill up your canvas bag for $5!" shouted the man who ...
Oyako Udon — A Quick and Very Tasty Soup
Friday, July 24th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »"Oyako" in Japanese means, literally, "parent-child." You have to love a language that describes a dish of chicken and egg this way. Oyako-donburi is a classic Japanese homestyle dish that sautes/braises chicken slices and some veggies in dashi, to which ...
Thoughts on Feeding Nine Billion People — A Terrific Discussion
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 Posted in Media related, videos | 6 Comments »It's kind of staggering to imagine that the world's population is set to rise by 50 percent, to some nine billion people, by 2050. That's a big enough challenge for global agriculture, but add to that the fact that incomes ...
Give Poor Little Suffering Dukkah Some Champagne
Friday, July 17th, 2009 Posted in Dishes | 9 Comments »I love the fact that dukkah (sometimes spelled dukkha), the classic Egyptian spice mixture made of toasted spices and nuts and taken with olive-oil moistened bread, refers to the concept of suffering in Buddhist terminology. It's simply hard to imagine ...
Transcendent Pork, Fruity Nutty Cauliflower
Friday, July 10th, 2009 Posted in Dishes | 1 Comment »Last night we had chops from our recent pork purchase. We bought half a gorgeous Berkshire that was lovingly nurtured by Mark Pasternak at Devil's Gulch in Nicasio, who feeds his animals ridiculously high-quality fare and gives them lavish digs ...
Finally — My Iron Chef Appearance
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 Posted in Media related | 19 Comments »Just got an email from the folks at Iron Chef -- we finally have a date! September 20, I think at 8 pm, but I'll confirm as we get closer. A full 15 months after taping, but better late than ...
A Few Breakaway Wines
Friday, July 3rd, 2009 Posted in Miscellaneous, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »Our little wine project out in Bolinas has exceeded our wildest expectations. We started out three years ago with a plot of land and a single (used) barrel of Dry Creek merlot buried under some pine trees. We'd occasionally thief ...
