Gilding the Lily since 2006
It’s so good to be back in my kitchen, I can’t even tell you. After the nettle dinner (those 24 things are so much work!) I was in the dry, dusty field for a week (botanical surveys in the western Central Valley, California), and spent …
This is a variation on a dish I made awhile back, and though breaking up capellini to make a version of fideos seems more legit, I think the clams were a better addition than mussels. The problem with mussels (always) is that their thin shells …
Yes, that is a segment of lamb femur with the marrow sucked out, enjoying its second life as a parsley holder. I love having a little time to just wander around the grocery store, no agenda or list, and just see what looks good and …
Man, it’s just been too nice out! How could anyone sit in front of the computer when there’s a vegetable garden to water, or a praying mantis egg sac to check for hatchlings, or white wine hangovers to nurse? Can’t beat Portland in the summer. …
I had some linguiça in the fridge that I bought like a month ago. Check the date: Sell By June 08. Perfect. Linguiça (lin-gwee-suh) is a Portuguese cured sausage that resembles chorizo. I don’t think it has tongue in it, but the name suggests it. …
I craved the lusty sunshine aroma of saffron and of smoky pimentón. I had fresh peppers and flatleaf parsley, a nubile pink brandywine tomato and a bag of rice. I didn’t have any bivalves around, and even though it’s practically not a paella without mussels …
I bought some chayote. I had always been kinda curious about these weird little fuckers, and finally bit the bullet and just brought some home. I sometimes just buy strange produce and then figure out how to use it after I get it home. I’m …
Scott and I had a few of his homies over for dinner and vid night the other night. I had already thawed out a lamb shoulder roast to clear out some room in the freezer, so it was good that we were having some company. …
Okay, so this month’s three ingredients at the Royal Foodie Joust are lentils, eggplant and cinnamon. Although it would’ve been a fairly obvious choice, I opted for a decidedly un-Asian dish. There would be no dal this month, no, that would be a little too …
Okay, since my aforementioned taste of culinary victory at (the now-defunct) Paper Chef has fanned my competitive flames, I’m giving it a go in the Royal Foodie Joust over at the Leftover Queen’s joint. My best work has always been under pressure, which is a …