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 | 5 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 ...

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 ...

Pickled Daikon

Monday, March 10th, 2008 Posted in Dishes, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

I've been trying to score a bucket of rice bran to make real takuan (Japanese pickled daikon), but the two beautiful daikon I picked up at the farmers' market weren't about to patiently wait around for me, so I made ...