The Coolest Umeboshi Poem in the World
Saturday, November 14th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments ». .All the Difficult Hours and Minutesby Jane Hirshfield.All the difficult hours and minutesare like salted plums in a jar.Wrinkled, turned steeply into themselves,they mutter something the color of sharkfins to the glass.Just so, calamity turns toward calmness.First the ...
Umami Corn Broth Udon with Summer Veggies
Thursday, October 1st, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »It all started with corn on the cob. I must have been a Depression child in another life, because I can't bear to throw away corn cobs. They make a brilliant corn broth, simply by filling a pot with water and ...
Spicy Green Papaya Salad, Breakaway Style
Friday, September 25th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »Green papaya remains mysterious to many of us. Why would anyone eat unripe fruit? Won't it be astringent, bitter, and cause stomach aches or worse? With some fruits all of that might be true, but for papaya, no. Is there a ...
On the Massive Importance of Salt
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 Posted in Miscellaneous, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »It occurs to me that, as much as I've talked about salt in the past few years, I've never really laid out a totally coherent/comprehensive post dedicated to this ingredient many of us take for granted. Forgive me for the length, ...
Michael Pollan on How American Cooking Became a Spectator Sport
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »Well the maestro has done it again. Michael Pollan has a lovely screed in last Sunday's NY Times Magazine called "Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch: How American Cooking Became a Spectator Sport, and What We Lost Along the ...
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 ...
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 ...
The Green Market, Dutch Style
Monday, June 1st, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »The Noordermarkt in the Jordaan is essentially the Dutch version of San Francisco's Ferry Plaza FM, with bicyles. People flock to the market, conveniently located just a leisurely five-minute stroll from our flat, from all over Amsterdam, and indeed from ...
